Scientists Reveal 'Major' New Factor in Bumblebee Decline

[Sewa]

Bumblebee populations have declined by 90 percent in the past 20 years, according to Environment America. There are many different factors contributing to their decline, including the use of pesticides and urban development. However, climate change is perhaps the biggest factor.

"The decline in populations and ranges of several species of bumblebees may be explained by issues of overheating of the nests and the brood," Peter Kevan of the University of Guelph in Canada and lead author of the study said in a statement. "The constraints on the survival of the bumblebee brood indicate that heat is likely a major factor, with heating of the nest above about 35 degrees Celsius being lethal, despite the remarkable capacity of bumblebees to thermoregulate."

"Excessively high temperatures are more harmful to most animals and plants than cool temperatures. When conditions are cool, organisms that do not metabolically regulate their body temperatures simply slow down, but when temperatures get too high metabolic processes start to break down and cease," Kevan said. "Death ensues quickly."


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-reveal-major-new-factor-in-bumblebee-decline/ar-AA1o4ryA?OCID=BingNewsSearch

[lapfog_1]

1. someone needs to develop a flying nanobot to replace the bees.

a great deal of the food supply depends on pollination by bees

[Botany]

3. No work on protecting the native pollinators

https://www.xerces.org/publications/books/attracting-native-pollinators

[Lulu KC]

9. Agreed

But aren't bumbles native to U.S., unlike the European honey bee? Or am I misreading your comment?

[Botany]

11. Correct the honeybee is European .... Lots of varieties...... Bumblebees (🐝 tons of different varieties)

is native to the Americas …. tons of different varieties of native bees too. Most do not live in
colonies.

[cynical_idealist]

4. careful what you wish for

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5709236/

[bahboo]

8. this is actually a thing in T.C. Boyle's latest novel...

Blue Skies....

[Think. Again.]

2. The headline of the article says "New Factor"...

...but then talks about fossil fuel induced climate change that we've known has been decimating every aspect of our planet's ecology for decades.

What is the "New" factor?

[bucolic_frolic]

5. I see ordinary yellow and black bees nesting underground

Wasps and hornets in treetops. These bees need to go on the graveyard shift. It's cooler then.

[dweller]

6. Don't forget

😟




✌🏻

[SweetT]

7. Sadly, true.

I found this. It reports an 8% increase in honeybee populations despite reports of continuing CCD (colony collapse) over the last decade. Study is from 2021, so not too outdated. There are other reports that mirror the findings here. If we care, we can help the bees so they won't die off and leave us dependent on human and robotic labor. Planting flowers, bee attractive ones for your area, is a major help for the bees, especially in heavy agriculture areas. Then there is the issue of urban bees...wow.

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2021/10/11/infographic-us-honeybee-population-reverses-declines-shows-sharp-8-increase-over-past-decade-documents-usda/

https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/1/19/23552518/honey-bees-native-bees-decline

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9901307/

[Lulu KC]

10. So important to make that distinction between honey bees and native bees

The Vox article does a great job of explaining.