B.MAIL
 
Welcome to B.mail, the monthly newsletter on issues and events in the
bee world.  It's provided by IBRA, the world information service for bee
science and beekeeping.
 
B.mail will announce meetings and new publications that are of interest to
scientists and beekeepers, as well as reporting current events and
discussing topics that are relevant at the moment.  Send your news to us;
we can't guarantee to use it, but it will help to keep this spot topical.  (Our
contacts are at the end of this newsletter).
 
What B.mail is not is another bulletin board, for people to chat and air their
views.  It is simply a reference point, with sources of further information
identified for those who want to know more.
 
This edition looks at the issue of bee conservation, especially in temperate
areas where the agriculture is intensive.
 
CONSERVING BEES
 
Conservation of bee diversity is a topic being increasingly discussed by
biologists. The many thousands of bee species have an important role in
conserving native flora, and a number are currently or potentially important
as crop pollinators.
 
In Europe this debate has special importance, because of the
intensification of agriculture and the competing demands for conservation
of wildlife and habitats.  Unfortunately the European Commission hasn't
yet recognised the importance of bee in protecting wildlife and habitats,
though the thousands of bee species - we're not talking only of honey
bees - are an important part of Europe's insect fauna, and through
pollination of wild plants are vital in conserving floral communities.
 
To focus discussion on this issue IBRA and the Linnean Society of London
are holding a joint scientific symposium called 'Conserving Europe's bees'.
This two-day scientific meeting will concentrate on bee conservation in
Europe, and the Mediterranean basin, but will also consider the Americas
and other areas - especially where the honey bee is an introduced
species.
 
'Conserving Europe's bees' will comprise four sessions of invited papers,
plus contributed posters, with opportunities for discussions and displays of
equipment.
 
It will be held in London on 6-7 April 1995.  A good line-up of speakers is
planned, and fees will be modest.  All are welcome to attend.
 
Habitats for bees
 
Convenor: Dr Paul Westrich, Institut f|r Wildbienenkunde, T|bingen,
Germany.
*       Changing land use and the habitat requirements of our native bees.
*       The risk that potential crop pollinators will be lost before we have had a
chance to exploit their potential.
*       The effects of habitat fragmentation on the pollination dynamics of
native floras and their pollinators
*       The development of integrated conservation policies catering for the
habitat requirements of bees.
 
Grappling with bee diversity
 
Convenor: Christopher O'Toole, Hope Entomological Collections,
University Museum, Oxford, UK.
*       Co-evolution of native bee faunas and floras as key factors in the
functional ecology of regional biotas.
*       The importance of appreciating the diversity of native bees, their
nesting biologies and floral relations, for understanding the
conservation needs of threatened habitats.
*       Shortfalls in the taxonomic knowledge of bees in Europe and the
Mediterranean basin
 
Do plants need bees?
 
Convenor: Professor Ingrid Williams, Institute of Arable Crops Research,
Rothamsted Experimental Station, UK.
*       Why bees are essential to sustainable agricultural production, nature
conservation and environmental protection.
*       Which food, fodder and pharmaceutical crops grown in the field or
glasshouse need bees, and the importance of bees in plant breeding,
variety development, hybrid and ornamental seed production.
*       Whether optimum pollination is dependent on maintaining bee
diversity.
 
Competition in bee-plant and bee-bee interactions
 
Convenor: Dr Stephen Buchmann, USDA - Agricultural Research Service,
Tucson, Arizona.
*       The effects of introduced bee species on the native flora and bee
fauna of several continents.
*       Honey bees as competitors with nectarivorous birds, and the worth of
excluding honey bees from conservation zones.
*       How competition amongst bees can be demonstrated, and the nature
of competition among and within flowering species for bees as pollen
vectors.
 
For further information contact: Conserving Europe's bees, The Linnean
Society of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London WIV 0LQ, United
Kingdom
 
Fax: (+44) 171-287-9364; e.mail: [log in to unmask]
 
MORE ON BEE CONSERVATION
 
For a long time agricultural land has been growing increasingly hostile to
bees.  Farming has become more intensive, with fewer 'weeds' and other
varied food sources available to bees.  Farmers 'tidying up' land have
destroyed nesting places for many species of bees that live in the wild:
these bees are important for maintaining wild flora, but many are
becoming useful for pollinating valuable crops.
 
But current changes in agricultural practice are not all bad.  There now is a
valuable opportunity to reverse this trend available to beekeepers and
others interested in bee conservation.  Huge areas of land are being taken
out of agricultural production, as many countries, especially in Europe and
North America, tackle their overproduction of food.  What is going to
happen to that land?  How can it be used in a way that will benefit bees -
both to conserve wild bee populations and assist beekeeping?
 
'Forage for bees in an agricultural landscape' provides practical answers to
these questions.  This volume presents a succession of themes relating to
bee conservation, firstly looking at the present state of British and
European agricultural policy, especially programmes to take land out of
production.  It then looks at how changes in land use over the past 45-50
years have affected the nectar and pollen sources available to bees in
Britain, and at the results of a current survey of nectar sources used by
honey bees.
 
A very important part of the debate on managing land with bees in mind
involves the conservation of 'wild' or solitary (non-Apis) bees.  The
threatened status of many wild bee species discussed in this volume is a
concern for the conservation of biodiversity.  But it is also an issue for
commercial agriculture: Some of these bees are important pollinators of
crop plants.  Bumble bees are another group of non-Apis bees of
considerable interest for managed pollination, and the work of a team of
UK researchers is reported in this volume.
 
IBRA has acted to stimulate discussion on these vital issues.  It is
important that beekeepers and bee scientists are aware of the need to
work for bee conservation, and of the opportunities that have been created
by current agricultural policies.  Agriculture industry professionals must
also consider, and adopt, land management strategies that will promote
the availability of habitats and food sources for bees.
 
Forage for bees in an agricultural landscape, edited by Andrew Matheson
and available from the publishers, IBRA (address at the end of this B.mail).
 
NEW ADDRESSES
 
The UK is undergoing a major change in telephone numbers.  From 1
August 1994 IBRA's telephone and fax numbers changed because the
dialling code (area code) for Cardiff is now 1222 instead of 222.  So to
keep in touch you will need to dial the international access code for your
country (for example 00), then: 44-1222-665522 (fax), and 44-1222-
372409 (telephone).
 
Note also that IBRA's e.mail address is now: [log in to unmask]
 
NEXT ISSUE
 
Watch out for the next B.mail on E.mail, at the beginning of November.