A new paper shows that the lifespan for adult honeybees appears to have decreased by nearly 50% in the last 50 years.
The European Red List of BeesIt is estimated that nearly one in ten wild honeybee species faces extinction. Imagine what we would do if our lifespans were cut in half. It would be the same if: Average woman in the UK I was 41 years old instead of 82.
Bees are integral to our future. We cannot grow most of the crops that we rely on for our food without bees and other pollinators.
This research could help to explain the Deaths of colonies in high numbersThe past few decades have seen a number of bee deaths all over the world. In the USA, bee deaths were especially severe during the 2006-07 winter when some commercial beekeepers lost as much as 90 percent of their colonies.
Unexplained Bee colony deaths at high ratesThey have been reported in Canada and Australia, France, Belgium, France. The Netherlands. Greece. Portugal. Spain. Switzerland. Germany. Finland. In the cold winter of 2012-13 29 percent Honeybee colonies in the UK died.
50 years worth of data
Dennis van Engelsdorp and Anthony Nearman, both from the University of Maryland, were the authors. mathematical modellingA lower life expectancy for bees could cause mass colony death.
Their study found that the average honeybee lifespan in America has decreased from 34 to 18 days per year since 1969.
The results of worker bees that were removed from their hives and kept inside cages by the authors, rather than wild bees, may have been affected. However, if so, it is a sign that something is seriously wrong.
The authors suspect that modern honeybees are suffering from a higher rate of disease, such as Deformed wing virusThe global spread of its vector has made x more common than ever since its discovery 40-years ago. varroa mite.
Modern bees could be weakened by Pesticides are evolving into new formsThis was 50 years ago.
Pesticides are often found in the pollen bees eat to feed their larvae. The bees have been exposed to low levels of neonicotinoids, which are a highly toxic class of pesticides. Reduced resistance to disease.
One explanation offered by the authors is that bee genes might have changed. Honeybee life expectancy is These genes are linked to their DNA. Natural selection or artificial (by beekeepers), may favor bees with shorter lives.
Scientists are able to see this happening in other species. This is an example: codBecause of overfishing, fish seldom survive long enough for them to become large. They mature earlier and are more compact.
Honeybees are less likely to survive in modern times because of stressors like disease and pesticides. Their evolution may be a positive thing. a live-fast-die-young lifestyle.
Everyone has a problem
Bees already face many pressures for survival. A Separate studyThe University of Bristol released a November 2022 study that found fertilizers alter the electric field of plants, which in turn changes the way bees perceive flowers. It prevents them from visiting flowers.
The habitat of bees is rapidly disappearing. Due to increased farming, 97 per cent of UK wildflower meadows has been lost since the 1930s.
It is fascinating and informative, but it raises more questions than answers. Data is based upon worker bees kept in hive cages. This method is used often. Learn about the stressors’ effects(such as pesticides), on bees.
Researchers would typically set up control groups in these types of experiments under identical conditions.
Nearman and van Engelsdorp used historical data from control group studies in many of the similar studies that have been conducted around the USA since 1969. This is, as the authors admit, a weakness in their report.
However, they cannot guarantee that laboratory conditions will remain the same as 1969. Perhaps older studies used wooden cages while modern ones use plastic. The size of the cages may change. The airflow in modern incubators may now be faster – or slower.
These details are often overlooked. The decrease in longevity could be explained by any changes made over the last 50 years.
Scientists won’t be able to decode the findings of this study. If we have historical data from the wild honeybee lifespan from past decades, it would be possible to compare those measurements with today’s.
Scientists would be able to rule out that laboratory conditions could have affected the results of the study.
A reduced life expectancy for bees means less pollination. For 75 percent of our crops, pollinating insects and bees are vital to ensure a good harvest. They also pollinate approximately All wild plants are 80 percent.
Although all species of honeybees face similar challenges, we don’t know if their lives expectancy has changed. We need to find out why bees seem to live less in the wild.
Dave GoulsonProfessor of Biology, Evolution, Behavior, and Environment, University of Sussex
This article was republished by The ConversationUnder a Creative Commons License Learn more Original article.
