recently on Bee-L

> The other bees are either "there" or they aren't.  They are the stuff of
> folklore and small-scale studies by pointy-headed escapees from the ivory tower

> Marla Spivak did not win her MacArthur grant in a poker game.

* * *

Marla Spivak on native bees:

These other bees are a subset of the roughly 4000
species of wild bumble bees (Bombus), leafcutter bees
(Megachile), and others that are native to North America.
While the honey bee was originally imported from Europe
by colonists in the early 17th century, it is these native bees
that have evolved with our local ecosystems, and, along with
honey bees, are valuable crop pollinators.

Many of these bees are more efficient crop pollinators
than the non-native honey bee, especially for New World
fruits and vegetables such as pumpkin, tomato, cranberry,
and blueberry (e.g., refs 26 and 27). This specialization results
in more efficient pollination and higher yields for certain
crops valued at at least $3 billion USD annually (6, 28, 29).

Recent research has demonstrated that native bees in some
cases provide all necessary pollination when adequate
foraging and nesting habitat is available, making them
crucially important as honey bees continue to decline (30, 31).

Spivak, M., Mader, E., Vaughan, M., & Euliss Jr, N. H. (2010). The Plight of the Bees†. Environmental science & technology, 45(1), 34-38.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html