Insect pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies and ants are all vanishing first
around the planet due to excessive use of pesticides in agriculture and anthropogenic
pollution. About 85% of flowering plants on our planet are dependent on these insect
pollinators for their survival and maintaining the balance of our ecosystem. Global bee
populations are showing an alarming decline due to a number of factors like environmental
pollution, indiscriminate use and over applications of various agro-chemicals, industrial
agricultural practices detrimental to nature, changes in the land use patterns; and parasitic
diseases of bees as well as lack of adequate supply of nectar and pollens for different bee
species due to lack of suitable of bee foraging plants. The yield loss due to lack of suitable
pollinators for cross pollination is a serious threat to the future of global agriculture as well as
for maintaining the balance of our natural ecosystems.
The greatest impacts on both honey bees and native bees have been reported from highly
industrialized countries. These include mainland USA and Hawaii, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Turkey, European Union (UK, France,
Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Greece, Netherlands,
Denmark). Outside the EU, bee declines have also been reported from Russia Ukraine,
Belarus and the Balkan Peninsula. Other countries reporting mass bee declines are Brazil,
Argentina, Mexico and other Central American countries, Sub Saharan Africa, Madagascar,
various Island nations like Sri Lanka, Maldives, Guam, Seychelles, St Vincent, Marshall
Islands, Caribbean Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati to name only a handful. No
reliable and comprehensive data are available from S&SE Asia, Central Asia and Middle East
and vast stretches of Africa and Latin America.
The worst decline is noticed in developed nations practising high precision industrial
agriculture with native bee population crashes between 97-99% in the past two decades. The
major factor behind this rapid decline of pollinator insects is specifically due to extensive
application of toxic synthetic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. The industrial level pesticide
spraying in large farms in western countries is dependent on low wind speed and bright sunny
mornings. Unfortunately, these are the days when insect pollinator’s flock to their foraging
ground in large numbers. As a consequence they are being killed in massive numbers
impacting ecological balance. Pesticide laden irrigation water and rain water percolated
through holes in the soil to reach the bee colonies to wipe them out.
This kind of bee population declines are not reported from developing nations like India
where small plot farming is practised due to lack of large agronomic lands and related
infrastructure to maintain such huge averages. Furthermore, there is tremendous crop
biodiversity in the sense that rice, mustard, flax, various legumes, aromatic and medicinal
herbs, forage crops, ornamentals and fruit orchards are all grown in adjacent areas. Thus
pollinator insects have the grand opportunity to move or escape the negative chemical impact
by moving into other plots or fields or Forage in an alternate crop.
The toxic chemicals land as droplets on the insect body and stick to them. Bees like other
insects have the habit of cleaning their antennae; and through this process they intake toxic
pesticides inside their system killing them. Often these chemicals impact their nervous
system impacting their precise sense of orientation causing them to land at inappropriate sites
causing deaths. Cross contamination with bees having pesticides with them wth others in the
hives or nest also causes an epidemic resulting in mass deaths of honey bees as well as native
bees. While commercial honey bees are raised and can be replaced, native bees on which
forest pollination is completely dependent are being wiped out in this process. In North
America and EU over 40% annual productions in apiculture industries have been impacted
due to mass deaths of bees.
Establishing suitable pollinator (bee) gardens or habitats or sanctuaries at suitable sites could
prove to be instrumental in both bee and other pollinator insect conservation from a long
term, ecological perspective. Using suitable Pollinator Mixes comprising of native grasses,
wildflowers as well as annual, biennial, perennial forage crops (forage grasses, legumes,
different Brassica family members) can help in establishing Pollinator gardens or habitats or
sanctuaries in perimeters of forested areas, under used or unsuitable agronomic lands, unused
and available rural locations, city and municipal parks and gardens, lawns, kitchen gardens,
unused or hard to farm areas, in sites adjacent to natural or artificial water bodies like ponds,
pools, ditches, swamps, bogs, streams, irrigation canals etc
Natural or artificial aquatic habitats like pools, ponds, ditches, swamps, bogs, lakes, canals
etc could be targeted for ecological restoration by planting short or high grasses, salt tolerant
aquatic plant species and grasses along with Pollinator mixes comprising of annual and
perennial legumes, wildflowers and related pollinator friendly plant species adjacent to water
bodies. Such mixes will not only restore aquatic habitats; but, also attract small and medium
sized land birds and a wide diversity of pollinator insects like honey bees, native bees, moths,
butterflies, certain species of pollinator beetles and flies for nectar foraging, nesting and
breeding purposes. If the water\bodies are well stocked with indigenous fish species, well
protected grassy aquatic habitats will also attract a wide diversity of aquatic birds to nest,
forage and breed in such unique environmentally restored ecosystems.
News Mania Desk
