Feature

By Rebecca Grossman, Program Director, The David H. Sonabend Center for Israel

If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live. —(attributed to) Albert Einstein

While it may not be quite as dire as Einstein suggested, the existence and decline of bees in our ecosystem is one factor that is becoming increasingly important in the search for agricultural and environmental sustainability.

Why bees? Bees are our most important pollinators of fruits and vegetables, with more than one third of the world’s crop production depending on bee pollination. There are over 20,000 species of bees in the world.

Honey bee hives, occupied by 40,000–50,000 bee organisms, act like one superorganism, with individuals recruiting their nest mates using a dance to pollinate a fruitful crop. The honey these bees make provides us with natural medicines, holding antibacterial and antifungal properties, providing antioxidants, treating wounds, and healing the common sore throat.

Bigger, fuzzier bumblebees also collect pollen, working even in cold, cloudy, and rainy conditions. Their colonies are much smaller, temporal, and do not store honey, but unlike honey bees they are capable of pollination in greenhouses and net structures.

So what's the problem? In the U.S. alone, an average of 25% of all bee hives are lost every winter and a similar amount is lost in summer; 20 years ago that figure was 15%. Luckily, beekeepers are able to divide their colonies to recoup their losses a bit, but we are at a precipitous point in the agricultural ecosystem.

Why is this happening? Population growth leads to greater demand for crops and the need for more bees. Worldwide, there has been a 300% increase in crop production requiring bee pollination. However, with the expanding population and increasing monocultural farming areas, there is less and less space for bees, with swaths of flowerless landscapes. We stopped planting cover crops after World War II and started using synthetic fertilizers. In order to keep our food looking good and bug free, we have used more and more pesticides, which are harming and ultimately killing bees and other beneficial insects. For example, if bees ingest a large dose of neonicotinoid pesticides, which attack the nervous system, they will twitch and die. If the dose is smaller, as it should be with the normal application of the pesticide to the seed rather than in the ground, the bee gets intoxicated and disoriented and may not find her way home. These multiple interacting causes mean that we cannot leave the bees alone and are required to “grow” them in order to ensure their survival as well as our own.

Israel has an even greater problem. Being a small and partly desert country, there is limited space for bees to live, as well as less resources and funds to protect them. The Volcani Institute, located in Rishon LeZion, is a research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that plans, organizes, and implements agricultural policy, and assists Israeli farmers in solving a variety of problems. Victoria Soroker, Ph.D., a researcher in the institute’s Department of Entomology and Plant Protection, leads a team that monitors colony losses every year, in order to understand the problems they are facing, as well as what the beekeepers actually do. As the main research institute in the geographical area focusing on this problem, they hope to assist their neighbors in understanding how bees can cope with the climate and environmental changes in this specific region.

In the long run, the Institute hopes to find better methods to interfere with mites, which can transmit viruses to bee colonies— another cause of collapse. By focusing on the physiology, structure, and function of mites and the way they interact with bees, the researchers hope to discover ways to intervene and protect colonies from this threat.

In the short run, the Institute is focusing on particular honey bees that are better at detecting mites and removing them. These hygienic bees are able to locate and weed out sick individuals to keep the colony healthy. Researchers are focusing on how hygienic bees are able to carry out these functions, whether they have specific mechanisms to avoid infection and prevent its spread, and whether their immune systems are able to deactivate the infection.

Research of this nature is very far removed from dayto-day life for most of us.

What, if anything, can individuals do to effect change?

First, we need to think globally, about what we need, where it is grown, and how it is grown.

In our farming techniques, we should diversify crops. We should plant flowering borders and hedgerows to attract pollinators.

The Israeli company BioBee has pioneered the use of beneficial insects and mites in agriculture for almost 40 years. They aim to reduce the use of harsh chemicals, creating a healthy and effective agriculture that is better for the environment, the grower, and the consumer. Their biologically based Integrated Pest Management system (IPM) reduces the quantity of chemicals used and the number of applications during the season, assisting farmers while also reducing pest resistance to chemical pesticides. They focus on prevention by introducing natural enemies and quality insect feed into fields, so crops are better able to resist the pests that do attack. BioBee also supplies top quality bumblebees and hives, offering professional and experienced technical advice for natural pollination. Benefits include increased yield, improved quality, pollination in adverse weather conditions, and pollination in protected as well as open-field crops.

This is only one example of a company that assists farmers in the endeavor to be more ecologically sustainable in their practices. When we go shopping, we should look at labels and support growers who take the environment into account. We should think about how people and farmers treat the land, and opt for greenhouse vegetables or washing our produce rather than buying anything that uses heavy pesticides. So, too, can we treat our personal gardens with care, forgoing the sprays and chemicals and opting for netting or simply allowing nature to take its course.

Furthermore, we can plant bee-friendly flowers, local varieties that last for the entire growing season, spring to fall. We should refrain from using insecticides on these, and welcome the bees into our gardens.

Taking some sort of action is key. As Victoria Soroker says, “There is no silver bullet today for anything. Everyone needs to take responsibility.”