- Ami Eckard-Lee: When we think of bees,
we think of flowers, stingers, and...
[ding] ...honey.
But not all bees make honey.
There are over 20,000 species of bees worldwide,
but less than 15 of these produce the honey
that we like to eat.
Most of our honey comes from bees
that are managed by human beekeepers
for selling products like these:
honey, pollen, honeycomb, or beeswax.
Wild bees are species that survive on their own
in the natural environment
and are typically native to the area.
And these little ladies are vital for a healthy ecosystem.
But bummer news.
Both domesticated and wild bee populations
have been declining for decades,
primarily due to climate change, habitat loss,
and the widespread use of pesticides.
So, what happens to the environment if we lose bees?
[bright music]
All bees are pollinators,
but not all pollinators are bees.
Pollinators are animals that help move pollen
from one plant to another, allowing plants to reproduce.
Many species are considered pollinators,
like butterflies, regular flies,
beetles, even some bat and bird species.
But bees are the kings of pollination.
Or maybe the queens.
But why is it so important for the environment?
I tried catching a bee to ask her,
but she told me to buzz off.
So, I met with these guys instead.
And they seem to know a thing or two about bees.
Why are pollinators so important
for the environment?
- James Crall: One is for biodiversity.
The other one is more selfish.
And that's for us,
because a lot of the crops that we depend on as humans
depend on that pollination.
One in three bites, roughly, of food that we eat
comes from a plant that depends to some extent on pollination.
Basically, less pollinators means less food for us.
- What are the main threats to pollinators
in our communities right now?
- Claudio Gratton: I think if we had to put 'em into categories,
I would say that the biggest one is habitat loss.
Imagine that every little habitat that they can get food
is isolated from every other one.
As habitats get smaller,
they get further and further from other similar habitats.
So, the likelihood that they can get to other food
that is similar to what they're finding here is really low.
So, that's fragmentation.
There's also diseases and pathogens
that are influencing bee populations in particular.
Related to that is also the use of pesticides.
And then, there's this kind of other thing that's happening
in the background
that we're still trying to understand
is the relationship and the role that climate
is actually playing.
- How does climate impact the pollinators?
- So, we can think of climate as both directly impacting bees
and other insects, right?
So, out on a hot day, it might be more stressful
in the middle of summer for bees.
We would call those direct impacts.
But the other thing that can happen
are these indirect effects through plants, right?
One is through sort of shifting timing,
something we call phenology.
Generally, phenology is that sort of timing
of biological events.
So, one of these might be, oh,
when do flowers and bees both emerge in spring?
And one thing that can happen with climate
is you start scrambling those a little bit.
And that can lead to timing mismatches, right?
Maybe the timing of when bees emerge
is different than the timing of when plants come out.
- Ami: These changes in phenology
are what makes biodiversity so important for pollinators.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of species
in a given location.
For example, a cornfield has very little biodiversity
because there's only one species growing.
Whereas a prairie might have dozens of plant species.
All these species have different traits and blooming periods
that make them favorable to certain pollinators.
And by supporting pollinators,
we're directly helping ourselves as well,
because if they can't get the food they need,
we might not get the food we need.
I'm here at an apple orchard to talk with a farmer
whose harvest relies on these pollinators,
just like the pollinators rely on these flowers.
Deirdre is an organic farmer
who decided to designate 30 acres of her land
to restore a native prairie
that would help support the wild pollinators.
And she has a pretty incredible story
about how that decision paid off.
- Deirdre Birmingham: In 2022, we were having
a very long, cool, kind of miserable, damp spring.
I knew that it was delaying bloom,
and then it surged into the 90s. - Oh, wow.
- Deirdre: And so, the blossoms were, like, exploding.
They were just opening very quickly.
And I had seen some wild pollinators.
And so, I thought, "Good,
"I know the wild pollinators are here,
"but I haven't seen this neighbor's honey bees
on the landscape yet."
So, I hadn't seen them.
I called him and said,
"Hey, are your honey bees coming soon?"
He said, "Oh, they're on a truck
from Texas." - Oh, wow!
- 'Cause he would ship 'em to work,
you know, work someplace else. - Wow!
- And so, they won't be here in time for my early blossom.
It was about a three,
maybe three-and-a-half day window.
And the wild bees did it, 'cause I got a crop
on those early season varieties thanks to wild pollinators.
- Having this diverse native prairie habitat available
gave these wild pollinators a better chance
at coping with additional stressors
such as a delayed blooming period.
So, what are some ways we can incorporate more diverse
and connected habitats into our own communities?
- Actually, urban and suburban areas can be even better habitat
for wild bees because there's more diversity.
People have different plants in their yard.
They have flowers, they might have vegetables.
So, all this diverse stuff that people have there
can be great for pollinators.
- Think about all the areas in your community
that are currently covered in a simple bed of grass.
This might be the grassy area
between the sidewalk and the road,
or the median in the street.
These areas could become habitat for pollinators
if the right species were growing there.
Another great way
to get involved in protecting pollinators
is by participating in a citizen science program.
Citizen science programs are ways
that members of the community
can take action on environmental issues they care about
by aiding real scientists in collecting local data.
The Bumble Bee Brigade
is an example of a citizen scientist program,
coordinated by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
to aid in the conservation of bumblebees in the state.
When you're on a, what do you call them,
bee expeditions, when you come down here
to the park? - Aishika Samanta: Bee-search.
- When you're doing some bee-search, I should call it,
what do you-- What does it day look like?
- Yeah, so we kind of walk along the same path each time
for consistency
and look at each individual flower
and see what bees are on them.
We keep track of what flower preferences,
so what flower each bumblebee is on,
the bumblebee species,
the sex of the bumblebee, humidity, temperature, weather,
all that stuff to kind of keep track of population,
but also flower preference
and kind of how populations fluctuate throughout the season.
And that's one of my favorite things
about citizen science is that anyone can get involved.
- There are a lot of ways you can get involved
in protecting and advocating for pollinators
and their habitat.
You can start by building a bee house for your backyard,
or planting a pollinator garden at your school.
You could even try participating in citizen science programs
or start advocating for protective laws
that safeguard pollinator habitat.
All of these can directly or indirectly help pollinators,
protect habitats, and save our food resources.
So, make like a bee and get busy.
[gentle music]
Spoiler: it's bad.
Not the sandwich.
I'm getting weirder.
Aaah!