This effect caused an explosion in mite population iirc in the 90s? Either way, bee populations have been suffering since then, but commercially kept bees have had the support of the agricultural industry to keep them afloat. Wild bees? Not so lucky. The good news is that there's a few reasons that bee populations could be making a comeback. One is that bees are some of the animals with the highest rates of genetic recombination (i.e. they evolve the fastest), and wild bees are adapting to resist mites without the help of agricultural treatments. Another is that promising treatments for mites are on the horizon. I was using sublimated oxalic acid on my bees, and it was incredibly effective in my experience. The FDA approved research on using oxalic acid the year I got out of beekeeping, and I haven't kept up on it but I'm hopeful it'll make a difference
Wondering your source on bees not competing for the same resources as wild bees. Both compete for nectar and pollen, and unless they're specifically adapted for certain flower morphology like bumblebees, would be effected by local beekeeping agriculture.
I'd love to learn more, but my research has always indicated that.
You're probably right . My source for basically every claim I've made is other beekeepers that I've worked with. What I've heard is that it isn't the bees competing for nectar/pollen, its flowers competing for pollinators and that the limiting factor for maximum bee population isn't food but suitable habitats. If you've done research and found otherwise, absolutely trust your research.
I was just interested, like with dairy farmers and "facts" on how milk production is good and healthy, I distrust any farmer trying to downsell the negative impacts of whatever product they profit from, but am open to reading studies on if they're right.
Flowers do compete for pollinators too, that doesn't necessarily mean introducing more pollinators is always good if those pollinators do a worse job and hurt local pollinator species.
This effect caused an explosion in mite population iirc in the 90s? Either way, bee populations have been suffering since then, but commercially kept bees have had the support of the agricultural industry to keep them afloat. Wild bees? Not so lucky. The good news is that there's a few reasons that bee populations could be making a comeback. One is that bees are some of the animals with the highest rates of genetic recombination (i.e. they evolve the fastest), and wild bees are adapting to resist mites without the help of agricultural treatments. Another is that promising treatments for mites are on the horizon. I was using sublimated oxalic acid on my bees, and it was incredibly effective in my experience. The FDA approved research on using oxalic acid the year I got out of beekeeping, and I haven't kept up on it but I'm hopeful it'll make a difference
Wondering your source on bees not competing for the same resources as wild bees. Both compete for nectar and pollen, and unless they're specifically adapted for certain flower morphology like bumblebees, would be effected by local beekeeping agriculture.
I'd love to learn more, but my research has always indicated that.
You're probably right . My source for basically every claim I've made is other beekeepers that I've worked with. What I've heard is that it isn't the bees competing for nectar/pollen, its flowers competing for pollinators and that the limiting factor for maximum bee population isn't food but suitable habitats. If you've done research and found otherwise, absolutely trust your research.
I was just interested, like with dairy farmers and "facts" on how milk production is good and healthy, I distrust any farmer trying to downsell the negative impacts of whatever product they profit from, but am open to reading studies on if they're right.
Flowers do compete for pollinators too, that doesn't necessarily mean introducing more pollinators is always good if those pollinators do a worse job and hurt local pollinator species.