[PCA] NEWS:You're Worrying About the Wrong Bees

[Addsum-Tony Frates]

Right along with all of those pesky global warming lobbyists no doubt  
. . . and the worst of all are those aggressive and completely  
out-of-line Bombus proponents.

(But I imagine, Bob, that you haven't heard of Bombus franklinii, nor  
the plight of Bombus in the western U.S. generallly - and no doubt in  
the East as well, and the increasing infrequent sightings of Bombus  
occidentalis, none of which has anything to due with commercial bee  
keepers.)


Tony Frates





Quoting Robert Layton Beyfuss <rlb14 at cornell.edu>:

> Interestingly, with the very obvious decline of feral honey bees in   
> upstate NY, we have seen a huge increase in the observed populations  
>  of bumblebees. These bees seem to be doing a fine job pollinating   
> fruit trees as well as small fruit such as blueberries etc.
> The commercial bee keeping lobby is a powerful force in Washington.
>
>
> From: native-plants   
> [mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf  
>  Of James, Rosalind
> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 9:20 AM
> To: Kwong, Olivia; native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
> Subject: Re: [PCA] NEWS:You're Worrying About the Wrong Bees
>
> Most of the losses seem to be with bumble bees.  Not a lot of losses  
>  have been found for the solitary bees, not that we have especially   
> accurate measures.
>
> The best documentation for bee declines are certain species of   
> bumble bees.  There are 49 species of bumble bees native to the US.   
>  Well, there were.  Now is probably 48.  like Franklin?s Bumble bee   
> in Oregon is probably extinct.
>
>
> Rosalind James
>
> From: native-plants   
> [mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf  
>  Of Kwong, Olivia
> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 9:48 AM
> To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
> Subject: [PCA] NEWS:You're Worrying About the Wrong Bees
>
> http://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/
>
> You're Worrying About the Wrong Bees
> Gwen Pearson
> Date of Publication: 04.29.15.
>
> "Save the Bees!" is a common refrain these days, and it's great to   
> see people interested in the little animals critical for our food   
> supply around the globe. But I have one quibble: you're talking   
> about the wrong bees.
>
> Honey bees will be fine. They are a globally distributed,   
> domesticated animal. Apis mellifera will not go extinct, and the   
> species is not remotely threatened with extinction.
>
> The bees you should be concerned about are the 3,999 other bee   
> species living in North America, most of which are solitary,   
> stingless, ground-nesting bees you've never heard of. Incredible   
> losses in native bee diversity are already happening.
>
> See the link above for the full article text.
>
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