{"id":29217,"date":"2021-05-14T00:01:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T04:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=29217"},"modified":"2021-05-12T19:22:54","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T23:22:54","slug":"general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/","title":{"rendered":"General Release of Honey Bees Threatens Wild Native Bee Populations and Ecosystems"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, May 14, 2021)\u00a0In a prime example of cart-before-the-horse, greenwashing, or perhaps \u201cbeewashing,\u201d a British company has badly missed the mark in its latest attempt to market a product while \u201cdoing good\u201d and generating goodwill with customers. As The Guardian<\/em> reports<\/a>, Marks & Spencer, the giant United Kingdom (UK) retailer, is releasing 30 million managed honey bees into rural British landscapes in what the company is promoting as an effort to support biodiversity and the beekeeping sector. However, according to experts and environmental advocates, unleashing that many honey bees may well actually harm both wild native bees and honey bees themselves. Critics of the move say<\/a> this means that wild bees will likely face fiercer competition for already inadequate food sources. Beyond Pesticides adds that these honey bees have been dispatched to the same pesticide-contaminated habitats in which existing bee populations of all kinds face harmful exposures \u2014 exacerbating issues surrounding pollinator decline<\/a> rather than solving them.<\/p>\r\n

Marks & Spencer\u2019s Twitter marketing<\/a> promotes the project in this way: \u201cDid you know that bees contribute to a third of the food we eat? At M&S, we\u2019re introducing more than 30 million bees to our Select Farms to help protect the future of these all-important pollinators and the planet.\u201d The plan behind the hype is that M&S, having placed some 1,000 hives on 25 farms, will soon have a new product \u2014\u00a0\u201csingle-estate honey\u201d \u2014 to market to consumers who may think this is a \u201cvirtuous\u201d product.<\/p>\r\n

In its blog, M&S adds to the cachet<\/a> by noting that the bees are housed in \u201ccedar beehives, many made in the 1930s, with plenty of nectar nearby.\u201d It adds, \u201cBecause we\u2019ll be harvesting honey from different farms with natural biodiversity, each crop will have its own unique flavour. Better yet, the hives do good for the environment, since bees are natural pollinators and allow nature to do its work. Our work with honey bees is only part of the story, though \u2014 as part of our Farming with Nature<\/a> project, we\u2019re encouraging pollinator diversity and promoting natural habitats across our farms.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

In fact, M&S is unlikely to be doing either of those things: managed honey bees do not contribute to biodiversity (see more below), and at least some of the \u201cnatural\u201d habitats the company claims to promote through this effort are likely subject to the use of pesticides in one or more forms. Though the UK has acted more protectively than the U.S., neonicotinoid pesticides continue to show up in UK honey<\/a> despite a partial ban.<\/p>\r\n

Worldwide, 75% of crops depend on pollination by insects or other creatures. In the UK, honey bees are responsible for pollination of roughly a third of crop production; however, wild pollinators supply critical services that contribute to pollination and productivity. Honey bees are one of more than 270 species of bee in the UK \u2014 many of which are in significant decline. According to recent research<\/a>, a steep global drop in bee species has been chronicled: approximately 25% fewer species were reported from 2006 through 2015 than was the case prior to 1990.<\/p>\r\n

Reaction in the UK advocate community<\/a> to the M&S announcement has been swift and scathing. Gill Perkins, chief executive of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust<\/a>, commented: \u201cThis is greenwashing or beewashing at its most blatant.\u201d Matt Shardlow, head of the conservation group Buglife<\/a>, says, \u201cThey are actually ending up doing something that may damage the environment. There are not enough wild flowers to support the populations we\u2019ve got. It\u2019s about creating a better countryside for pollinators, not chucking more pollinators out into the countryside.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Siting 30 million European honey bees across the M&S host farms is, according to ecologist Steven Falk<\/a>, \u201cnot natural at all \u2014 it\u2019s farming,\u201d adding that the company has gotten this \u201chorribly wrong. . . . There\u2019s growing evidence if you saturate the landscape with honeybees, it has a profound impact and puts pressure on the wild pollinators.\u201d This view is supported by 2019 French research<\/a> demonstrating that the global spread of the European honey bee via managed bee farming\/leasing pits wild native bee populations against the \u201cintruders,\u201d resulting in bee biodiversity losses.<\/p>\r\n

In addition, managed honey bees tend to pollinate a narrow range of plants with \u201cshowy\u201d flowers. Native wild pollinators pick up a lot of the slack, and are, according to researchers,<\/a> twice as effective as honey bees in the pollination of certain crops, such as strawberries, tomatoes, almonds, coffee, and oilseed rape. The Guardian<\/em> reports<\/a> that this is because honey bees collect \u201cdamper\u201d pollen that adheres to their bodies, whereas wild pollinators tend to collect drier pollen that is more liberally shed onto flowers. Introducing millions of managed honey bees can alter ecosystems and habitats because of their selective pollination habits, according to Mr. Shardlow of Buglife.<\/p>\r\n

M&S\u2019s honey bee project might be regarded, at best, as evidence of the company\u2019s poor knowledge and\/or poor judgment. Indeed, University of Sussex Professor Dave Goulson, PhD had this to say on Twitter<\/a>: \u201cJust adding more honeybees is not the answer to declining pollinator numbers! Come on @marksandspencer, do your homework.\u201d Beyond Pesticides asserts that a far better gesture would have been investments in ridding the British countryside of pesticides that harm pollinators, restoring native habitats, and installing and supporting widespread, appropriate foodstocks (plants) for pollinators, such as bumblebees, red mason bees, and hoverflies.<\/p>\r\n

Marks & Spencer defends its bee program<\/a>, saying it is only one facet of its Farming with Nature<\/a> project, which the company says is expected to boost pollinator diversity. A M&S spokesperson commented: \u201cIt is designed to help our Select Farmers become more resilient to the biggest environmental challenges they face and champion the uptake of nature-friendly farming practices. We are committed to sustainable farming that safeguards wild pollinators, including bumblebees and solitary bees, so we have placed our honeybee hives in very carefully selected areas, in small groups and more than two miles apart to avoid over-populating a particular area. None of our honeybees are imported. We\u2019re discussing how to develop the project with the Bumblebee\u00a0Conservation Trust and we\u2019re also in conversation with Buglife \u2014 we\u2019re hoping to work closely with them to nurture all British pollinators.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The bigger picture that M&S appears to be missing is this: changes to one or more elements of an ecosystem can easily upset ecological balance and ecosystem function. The introduction of many millions of honey bees could be such a destabilizing element. Beyond Pesticides has covered the significant and additive stress<\/a> on wild bees from both food scarcity and pesticide exposure. Predicted increased competition for appropriate food sources, on the part of wild bees and other native pollinators, is one expected impact of the M&S honey bee project.<\/p>\r\n

Pesticide use is also a harmful stressor on wild (and all) bee populations<\/a>, as well as on other wildlife<\/a>, and is at least a partial cause of bee and other pollinator declines. Adding all those managed honey bees to 25 farm ecosystems does little to improve the lot of any bees; it does<\/em> mean that millions more bees, both honey bees and wild bees, may be exposed to toxic pesticides<\/a>, causing more devastation to bee populations.<\/p>\r\n

Bringing more pollinators to live on or near pesticide-contaminated \u201ckilling fields\u201d \u2014 or attracting them via planting food-source plants \u2014 does not address the base problem, which is pesticide use in land management. Pesticides are used on agricultural fields, and on seeds and crops grown in them; residues from spraying can drift to other areas and settle on soil and vegetation (including pollinator food sources), and contaminated water runoff can end up in drainage ditches and waterways that are favored by some flowering species. These chemicals are also used in non-agricultural areas for turf management, such as in public parks, greenspaces, golf courses, and other recreation or open spaces that may have pollinator-friendly vegetation (whether intentionally planted or \u201cvolunteer\u201d). Direct exposures to pesticides, and\/or indirect exposures through feeding from contaminated plants, exacerbate the negative impacts of these chemicals<\/a> on pollinator populations. Opportunities for pollinator exposure to chemical pesticides can be rife.<\/p>\r\n

Beyond Pesticides captured the bigger picture well<\/a> in its introduction to its 2017 annual Pesticide Forum, Healthy Hives, Healthy Lives, Healthy Land: \u201cComplex biological communities support life. With this understanding, we advocate for practices and policies that are sustainable and regenerative, create resiliency, and nurture healthy interactive organisms in the web of life. We rely on the best independent scientific knowledge available, recognize uncertainties when they arise, and choose the path that is most protective of health and the environment. The decline of pollinators is a clarion call to action, as it reflects a regulatory system that is out of touch with the effects of turning habitat into pesticide-laden killing fields, poisoning our waterways, and destroying ecological balance.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Beyond Pesticides has written that<\/a> \u201cPollinators are a bellwether for environmental stress as individuals and as colonies.\u201d Pesticides play a role in the so-called insect apocalypse<\/a>, in colony collapse disorder<\/a>, and in plunges in insect biodiversity<\/a>, all of which signal that ecosystems and their species are in dire shape. Fundamental to changing this trajectory is the elimination of chemical dependency in all land management\u201a through a rapid transition to organic practices. Organic regenerative agriculture<\/a> and organic land management<\/a> practices not only proscribe the use of toxic chemicals, but also, nurture healthy ecosystems and robust biodiversity.<\/p>\r\n

Protection of species \u2014 whether bees, other pollinators, or wildlife \u2014 cannot be achieved without correction of the underlying agricultural and land management dependency on pesticides. Ultimately, the widespread adoption of organic management systems<\/a> is necessary to protect biodiverse ecosystems and their inhabitants.<\/p>\r\n

Meet with beekeepers, scientists, and advocates at the upcoming Cultivating Healthy Communities<\/a> Forum, starting May 24\u00a0and 25, and running every subsequent Tuesday until June 15.\u00a0Registration options are available for every budget<\/strong>, including a no-cost option<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0See here for a complete program and schedule of events.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\r\n

Source: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2021\/apr\/16\/marks-spencer-honeybee-project-threat-biodiversity-conservationists-aoe<\/a><\/p>\r\n

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, May 14, 2021)\u00a0In a prime example of cart-before-the-horse, greenwashing, or perhaps \u201cbeewashing,\u201d a British company has badly missed the mark in its latest attempt to market a product while \u201cdoing good\u201d and generating goodwill with customers. As The Guardian reports, Marks & Spencer, the giant United Kingdom (UK) retailer, is releasing 30 million managed honey bees into rural British landscapes in what the company is promoting as an effort to support biodiversity and the beekeeping sector. However, according to experts and environmental advocates, unleashing that many honey bees may well actually harm both wild native bees and honey bees themselves. Critics of the move say this means that wild bees will likely face fiercer competition for already inadequate food sources. Beyond Pesticides adds that these honey bees have been dispatched to the same pesticide-contaminated habitats in which existing bee populations of all kinds face harmful exposures \u2014 exacerbating issues surrounding pollinator decline rather than solving them. Marks & Spencer\u2019s Twitter marketing promotes the project in this way: \u201cDid you know that bees contribute to a third of the food we eat? At M&S, we\u2019re introducing more than 30 million bees to our Select Farms to help protect the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,93,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-pollinators","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Release of Honey Bees Threatens Wild Native Bee Populations and Ecosystems - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"General Release of Honey Bees Threatens Wild Native Bee Populations and Ecosystems - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, May 14, 2021)\u00a0In a prime example of cart-before-the-horse, greenwashing, or perhaps \u201cbeewashing,\u201d a British company has badly missed the mark in its latest attempt to market a product while \u201cdoing good\u201d and generating goodwill with customers. As The Guardian reports, Marks & Spencer, the giant United Kingdom (UK) retailer, is releasing 30 million managed honey bees into rural British landscapes in what the company is promoting as an effort to support biodiversity and the beekeeping sector. However, according to experts and environmental advocates, unleashing that many honey bees may well actually harm both wild native bees and honey bees themselves. Critics of the move say this means that wild bees will likely face fiercer competition for already inadequate food sources. Beyond Pesticides adds that these honey bees have been dispatched to the same pesticide-contaminated habitats in which existing bee populations of all kinds face harmful exposures \u2014 exacerbating issues surrounding pollinator decline rather than solving them. Marks & Spencer\u2019s Twitter marketing promotes the project in this way: \u201cDid you know that bees contribute to a third of the food we eat? 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As The Guardian reports, Marks & Spencer, the giant United Kingdom (UK) retailer, is releasing 30 million managed honey bees into rural British landscapes in what the company is promoting as an effort to support biodiversity and the beekeeping sector. However, according to experts and environmental advocates, unleashing that many honey bees may well actually harm both wild native bees and honey bees themselves. Critics of the move say this means that wild bees will likely face fiercer competition for already inadequate food sources. Beyond Pesticides adds that these honey bees have been dispatched to the same pesticide-contaminated habitats in which existing bee populations of all kinds face harmful exposures \u2014 exacerbating issues surrounding pollinator decline rather than solving them. Marks & Spencer\u2019s Twitter marketing promotes the project in this way: \u201cDid you know that bees contribute to a third of the food we eat? At M&S, we\u2019re introducing more than 30 million bees to our Select Farms to help protect the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2021-05-14T04:01:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/bumblebee.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"General Release of Honey Bees Threatens Wild Native Bee Populations and Ecosystems","datePublished":"2021-05-14T04:01:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/"},"wordCount":1688,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/bumblebee.jpg","articleSection":["International","Pollinators"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2021\/05\/general-release-of-honey-bees-threatens-wild-native-bee-populations-and-ecosystems\/","name":"General Release of Honey Bees Threatens Wild Native Bee Populations and Ecosystems - 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By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. 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