On Turner Broadcasting Wildlife Adventures this March....

"Pollinators in Peril"
 Host: Peter Fonda
   Birds, bees, bats and insects pollinate the food crops that keep our world
thriving. Actor Peter Fonda will explore the fascinating world of these often
forgotten but crucial and overlooked animals, to discover the critical role
they play in keeping ourselves and our world flourishing.  Should include
footage and interviews with UT cherry and apple growers, WA alfalfa seed
growers, NJ cranberry growers and more, with a considerable focus on native
bees.
   — From a post on another NG.
   It will be interesting to see if Fonda, who did great PR for US beekeepers
in "Ulee's Gold", and the producers of this program will repeat the
exaggerations and mischaracterizations of that seminal document of the
imperiled pollinator movement "The Forgotten Pollinators" by Gary Nabhan and
Stephen Buchmann. Some points to consider:
   > *Speculates* that honey bees may have driven some native pollinators to
extinction in North America and elsewhere. Proof please?
   > Implies that honey bees are more inefficient than native pollinators
because they groom pollen from their bodies and mix it with saliva and nectar
(Native pollinators like the bumblebees do this too).
   > Propagates the unexamined fallacy of thought that "native pollinators"
in North America are native *everywhere* in North America — there are more
than 55 species of bumblebees here. A “native pollinator” in the Northwest is
an invasive species in the East. A farmer or gardener who buys bumblebees
from a bio-supply company in Michigan may be introducing a whole new invasive
species in Massachusetts.
   > Says beekeeping, both as a hobby and an industry, is doomed by the
arrival of the Africanized honey bee. A closer examination of where the
Africanized honey bee comes from (Africa and South America) shows the bees
have been successfully kept and managed for generations. The beekeeping
industry in those areas of the world rival US output for some products.
   > Recounts the plight of Australian native pollinators and blames the
honey bee for edging out the locals—without mentioning that bumble bees were
also imported to Australia several centuries ago.
   > Implies that "native pollinators" are more benign than honey bees.
Bumblebees will chew out the base of a flower evolved to be pollinated by
hummingbirds and other large "imperiled" pollinators to get at the nectar
there without pollinating the flower. Honey bees won't do that.
   > Fearmongers about honey bees by calling the size of the foraging force
"fearsome" and "overwhelming."
   > Says honey bees outcompete native pollinators for their own native
forage. A study of beekeepers in "The Hive and the Honey Bee" (Chapter 11)
shows the majority of their harvest comes from introduced plant species.
   > Says beekeeping, both as a hobby and an industry, is doomed by the
arrival of exotic mites. Beekeepers will do what they have always
successfully done: Develop new management practices with the help of USDA
scientists and carry on.
   > Talk about the diseases and parasites of honey bees and not talk about
the diseases and parasites of native pollinating insects, at least in so far
as managed or kept colonies are concerned.
   > Concludes that because honey bees in this country may be doomed for one
trumped-up reason or another, money should be redirected away from honey bee
research to alternative pollinator research.
   Unfortunately, recent trends in the U.S. have included an embrace of an
immigrant-bashing mentality (blame it on the foreigners). Sadly, this
"fashion" seems to have jumped over to the world of insects with the honey
bee as the latest victim.
   The show airs (Eastern times):
Wednesday, March 21, 2000 10:05pm-11:05pm
 Monday, March 27, 2000 1:15am- 2:15am
 Thursday, March 30, 2000 2:25am- 3:25am