Re: The Birds, the Bees, and Bill Maher

Mike Nelson — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:41:57 -0000

Like any social animal, bees are extremely susceptible to any communicable disease. There are also tracheal mites that literally choke the bees to death, and a number of other diseases that spread rapidly through hives. The sad truth is that because of spreading hybridization of bees in North and South America by Africanized bees, most of our bees must be imported from Europe. If this disease is coming from Europe, we may have to look elsewhere for reliable pollinators.

From http://nationalzoo.si.edu/P...

"With 130,000 to 200,000 species of pollinators, a "typical" pollinator doesn’t exist. Beetles, which make up 350,000 named species worldwide, pollinate about 88 percent of all flowering plants, also called angiosperms. Ants, wasps, and bees collectively pollinate 18 percent. Butterflies and moths pollinate eight percent of all angiosperms. Although birds and bats and other mammals don’t pollinate many species, they are vital for the plants that rely on them for reproduction. Bats alone bring us many products, including vanilla, dates, tequila, and bananas."

Unfortunately, as the article goes on to say, each type of pollinator has adapted to a specific set of plants in their mutualistic relationship. We shall see how rapidly these species, both animal and plant, can adapt.

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Re: The Birds, the Bees, and Bill Maher