Are Native Bees and Plants the Solution?
The “Secret Marin” Blog recently posted a story, Our Busy and Threatened Bees, about the threats of disease and mites to honey bees in Marin County and elsewhere. This has significant implications as honey bees are important pollinators of many food crops. http://secretmarin.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-busy-and-threatened-bees.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SecretMarin+%28Secret+Marin%29
This has been an ongoing problem and here are links so a few past related stories.
Declining Bee Population Threatens Major Growers (at NPR) by John Nielson http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6299480
Scientists stumped as bee population declines further published March 29th, 2010 in Biology / Plants & Animals: http://www.physorg.com/print189058713.html
One possible solution is to increase the population of Native Bees as they are more efficient pollinators than European Honey Bees. Here is an article on making your garden more bee friendly. Bee-friendly gardening http://grownatives.cnps.org/2010/03/31/bee-friendly-gardening/
Natural History Wanderings 
[…] as pollinators for honeybees who are suffering from colony collapse. ( See earlier posting on Threats to Honey Bees and Food Crops Are Native Bees and Plants the Solution?) To read more about the spread of viruses to bees go to […]
LikeLike
By: Honeybees Spreading Viruses to Native Bees? « Natural History Wanderings on February 1, 2011
at 9:46 PM