Cooperative Living April 2023 - 15

MEADOWADVENTURE
Pesticides
A
queen wakes up
in spring after a
longwinter nap.
After finding a place to
call home, and enjoying
a breakfast offlower
nectar and pollen, she
starts laying eggs, which
will turn into bumble
bees.Worker " rusty
patched " bumbles
hatch first. They build
a colony, collect food,
care for the young, and
defend the colony while the queen continues to lay eggs. In
summer, males leave the colony to mate with other queens.
All colony members die in autumn, except for new queens.
After sleeping through winter, they start the next bumble
bee cycle in spring.
When composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote " Flight
may be causing
bee populations
to decline.
our forests,
parks,
meadows
and shrublands,
and the abundant,
vibrant life they support,
cannot survive. "
'The Flight of the Bumble Bee'
by Priscilla Knight, Contributing Columnist
Help save the rusty patched bumble bee
WHAT IS
HURTING BEES?
Not just bumbles are
in danger. Melittologists
-entomologists who
study bees -do not
know exactly what is harming bee species, but savebees.org
and the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service suspect habitat loss
and degradation, pesticide poisoning, diseases and parasites,
non-native and managed bees, and climate change. According
to savebees.org, " Many ofour bees are sick, stressed and
undernourished. "
ofthe Bumblebee " in 1900, he probably didn't think that
some ofthe 25,000 species ofbees might take a flight toward
extinction. Unfortunately, some have. In 2017, the rusty
patched bumble bee became the first wild bee in the
continental states to land on the U.S. Fish andWildlife
Service's endangered species list. The Virginia Department
ofWildlife Resources says the population ofthe bee that
once thrived in the East, upper Midwest, and Southeastern
Canada has declined " an estimated 87% " in the past 20 years.
BUSY BEES
The U.S. Fish andWildlife Service says
bumble bees are " keystone species in most
ecosystems " for reproducing food. " Bumble
bees are among the most important pollinators
ofcrops such as blueberries, cranberries and
clover and almost the only insect pollinators
oftomatoes. Bumble bees are more effective
SAVING BEES
The U.S. Fish andWildlife Service finalized a recovery plan
for the rusty patched bumble bee in 2021. The plan includes:
surveys and monitoring, conservation planning, research,
habitat management and enhancement, as well as outreach.
The service is working with the North American Pollinator
Protection Campaign, the U.S. Department ofAgriculture,
citizens, and other partners to protect endangered pollinators.
The Virginia Department ofWildlife
Resources is working on improving pollinator
habitat at our wildlife management areas and
lakes on private lands throughout the state.
BE A BEE BELIEVER
Fortunately, anyone with a garden, deck,
Queens are " rust " free.
pollinators than honey bees for some crops because oftheir
ability to 'buzz pollinate.' The economic value ofpollination
services provided by native insects (mostly bees) is estimated
at $3 billion per year in the United States. "
TomMelius, the Service's Midwest regional director,
says, " Pollinators are small but mighty parts ofthe natural
mechanism that sustains us and our world.Without them,
co-opliving.com
patio, or balcony can help native bees flourish.
U.S. and Virginia wildlife agencies and other
conservation groups suggest the following:
Plant flowering trees, shrubs and flowers. Apple, pear,
and cherry trees provide excellent pollinator food. Choose
native flowers that bloom at different times ofthe year to
nourish different bee species.
(continued onpage 14)
April 2023 ●
Cooperative Living ●
13
http://www.savebees.org http://www.savebees.org http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living April 2023

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