Читать книгу Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner - Группа авторов - Страница 14

Honey bee and pollinator health is crucial to our food supply. The pollination of flowering plants is an essential ecosystem service that produces the variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds which, in turn, provide the necessary nutrients to sustain us, wildlife, and farm animals. The pollination services of birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, moths, ants, wasps, and the like, are vital to food systems – and to life itself. Without this variety of pollinators, we would not have the plant biodiversity that wildlife requires, or healthy soil and air. Without those things, we can never achieve global food security.

The public is increasingly aware that pollinators and honey bees are in trouble and people want to help. Hobbyist or “backyarder” and sideliner beekeeping has never been more popular, and veterinarians will be called upon more and more as we educate ourselves and the beekeepers learn our worth.

It is estimated that by 2050 there may be 9.8 billion people on earth and that global agriculture may need to increase by 30–70% in some areas. How will we feed a future population of 10 billion people? How will land and water resources be shared? How will we mitigate the increasing impact of global climate change on agriculture? Veterinarians will play an essential role in solving these issues. Food safety, food security, and public health are part of our jobs as veterinarians.

The honey bee is our top managed pollinator because it is the only bee that forms large colonies that can be transported in hive boxes. North America has the second largest commercial bee industry in the world. Today, millions of hives, the majority of the North American bee herd, are transported thousands of miles by truckloads around the United States and Canada to pollinate our food crops. The commercial beekeeper's life is a hard one – very labor intensive and with the new regulations, the spread of disease, increased fuel and transportation costs, and labor shortages, we are obliged to familiarize ourselves with their trade. Pollination services are a multi‐billion‐dollar industry.

Honey bees get the most “buzz” but actually some native bees are more efficient pollinators for some plants. Yes, honey bees are now considered livestock because we consume their products, but as far as getting pollen from one flower to another, honey bees are only one of a myriad of players. Native bees do not live in hives or colonies but in underground burrows. They come in all sizes and colors, and can be fuzzy, shiny, or metallic. They aren't as tidy, they don't pack pollen in little pouches, and they are messy. Farmers and producers have noted that when native bees are co‐pollinating with the honey bees, production is even better. New management in Integrated Crop Pollination uses a combination of native bees and honey bees with farm practice tools, like no‐till and cover crops, to increase production.