Monthly Archives: July 2020

Loss of bees causes crop shortage

A Guardian newspaper report:-

“A lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may have serious ramifications for global food security.

Species of wild bees, such as bumblebees, are suffering from a loss of flowering habitat, the use of toxic pesticides and, increasingly, the climate crisis. Managed honeybees, meanwhile, are tended to by beekeepers, but have still been assailed by disease, leading to concerns that the three-quarters of the world’s food crops dependent upon pollinators could falter due to a lack of bees.

Of seven studied crops grown in 13 states across America, five showed evidence that a lack of bees is hampering the amount of food that can be grown, including apples, blueberries and cherries. A total of 131 crop fields were surveyed for bee activity and crop abundance by a coalition of scientists from the US, Canada and Sweden.  …. ”

Read more :-

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/29/bees-food-crops-shortage-study

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.0922

 

Making a beeline:-

The Guardian web site:-  “The conservation charity Buglife hopes to help restore and create at least 150,000 hectares of wildflower pathways with the launch on Monday 13th July 20 of its B-lines network for England.

B-Lines are a strategically mapped network of existing and potential wildflower habitats that criss-cross the country. The 3km-wide corridors stretch from the coast to the countryside and towns and cities, covering in total some 48,000 sq km of England….”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/12/making-a-beeline-wildflower-paths-across-uk-could-save-species

In Monmouthshire, B-Lines run from Chepstow up the Wye Valley and also Chepstow, Usk, Abergavenny and Monmouth.

https://www.buglife.org.uk/our-work/b-lines/b-lines-wales/

 

Reversing the Decline of Insects

Reversing the Decline of Insects, commissioned by The Wildlife Trusts as part of their Action for Insects campaign, focuses on some examples of what can be done by everyone to halt and reverse this crisis. From the road verges of Stirling and Kent, to farms in Northern Ireland and Devon, the chalk streams of Wiltshire, and the urban greenspaces of Lambeth and Manchester, we highlight some of the many people and projects that are making a real difference to insects.

We can learn from these successes and, with your help, scale them up and roll them out across the country. We can create a network of insect-friendly habitat to ensure that our grandchildren grow up in a world where the flash of butterflies’ wings, the buzz of bumblebees and the chirp of crickets are all familiar sights and sounds ……………..

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/Reversing%20the%20Decline%20of%20Insects%20Report%20-EMBARGO%2008.07.20%20%282%29.pdf