Scientific American: Pollinators, yes...Honeybees? Maybe not so much.

[chromedome]

In the wake of the "colony collapse" panic of a decade or so ago, a lot of people took to beekeeping in the interest of sustainability, ecology and so on. In Scientific American, one entomologist argues that maybe this emphasis on (lucrative, non-native) honeybees is misplaced:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-honey-bees/

[heidih]

Yup the world of pollinators is vast. Its is why we need to consider the ecosystem as a whole. It is not  "plug and play" matter. But like Covid articles - suddenly everyone is a correlative scientist...

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Yup the world of pollinators is vast. Its is why we need to consider the ecosystem as a whole. It is not  "plug and play" matter. But like Covid articles - suddenly everyone is a correlative scientist...

Well...the author does have some pretty pertinent expertise, if you scroll down and read the bio.

[heidih]

11 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Well...the author does have some pretty pertinent expertise, if you scroll down and read the bio.

I did not mean that author - I meant all the bee bunnies that don't get the whole picture.

[chromedome]

Okay, gotcha.

[chromedome]

On a related note, it turns out that mosquitoes - of all things - may be a significantly underestimated pollinator (it's fairly far down the article, but the whole thing is a good read).

 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2021/08/19/secret-life-worlds-most-hated-insect/

[gfweb]

This whole honeybee thing has the native plant people going insane over on facebook (they are kind of insane to begin with).  The goal is planting stuff that is native to one's specific ecosystem...no damn Jersey plants on the wrong side of the Delaware please.

 

And nothing not native  or encouraging to invaders. Which is where honeybee loathing enters.  Kind of fun to monitor the high emotions over this stuff, but don't dare wade into it. Quicksand.

[quiet1]

3 hours ago, chromedome said:

On a related note, it turns out that mosquitoes - of all things - may be a significantly underestimated pollinator (it's fairly far down the article, but the whole thing is a good read).

 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2021/08/19/secret-life-worlds-most-hated-insect/

I’m not sure I can be convinced that mosquitoes are worth it. (They find me especially tasty.)