Intro
Great Britain is doing its bit to help reverse the devastating effects of Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. The idea is simple yet ingenious at the same time. The plan is to build and maintain a safe passage for all the insects that play their part in pollination. Scientists estimated that pollinating insects maintain around 90 percent of the UK's greenery. It's no wonder the Brits are keen to do something to help the bees and other insects.
My Notes
A new transportation network for millions of the UK's smallest citizens is a project of serious consequences. The result of inaction could prove catastrophic for this ancient kingdom. Why? Because it’s vital that pollinating insects visit the nation's flowers. If these insects die out, as we're seeing with the honey bees, then life as the Brits know it could change forever. Some of the UK's pollinating insects (in order of importance) include :
- Honeybees
- Bumblebees
- Solitary bees
- Hoverflies
- Beetles
- Butterflies
- Moths
The Role of Pollinators
Pollinators collect food from flowers in the form of plant nectar and pollen, but this is not a one-way selfish relationship. In return for feeding the insects, the bugs then carry pollen from one flower to another. This is where there term pollination comes from. It's necessary so that the plants can reproduce. It's a process whereby the pollen is transferred to the female reproductive organs of the seed plants.
The Bee Motorways
The “bee motorways” or “bee lines” are carefully positioned grassy strips that attract bees with their blooming wildflowers. Each of these bee motorways connects fields, forests, woodlands and meadows all around the UK. They are to be a subtle network of well thought out bee lanes. The genius behind this is that these lanes provide a safe passage for all the insects that depend upon such habitations. It is, to all intents and purposes, an unobtrusive infrastructure for a world that many of us never see.
Why this Is Important
Over the past 25 years the waning of the UK's honeybee population has been in sharp decline. This is serious because of the extent to which it has declined, which some estimates put at more than half. Of the other pollinating insects, estimates suggest that 60 percent of those are also suffering from a rapid falloff.
Although scientists have not been able to pinpoint the actual cause of CCD, there are factors which we know contribute to the problem. The main culprits are:
- Disease
- Habitat loss
- Intensive agriculture
- Less wild grassland for insects to breed
- Toxic pesticides
CCD is not only a UK problem but a global one. We humans are desperate to find the main cause or causes. We're even more desperate to find the workable solutions before it's too late. We have some pieces of the puzzle, as the scientific article below points out, but we don't have them all.
A Common Pesticide Decreases Foraging Success and Survival in Honey Bees
Mickaël Henry, Maxime Béguin, Fabrice Requier, Orianne Rollin, Jean-François Odoux, Pierrick Aupinel, Jean Aptel, Sylvie Tchamitchian, Axel Decourtye
Science 20 Apr 2012 | Vol. 336, Issue 6079, pp. 348-350 | DOI: 10.1126/science.1215039
Bees Need Humans Need Bees
Bees have been around a lot longer than humans have so that means they don't need us. Or more specifically, they didn't use to need us. But because we are probably responsible for their decline, bees and other pollinating insects do need us today. We understand the problem and can therefore at least attempt to apply the solution(s). This is not something the insects can resolve for themselves, at least not while man continues to inhabit the earth.
Bug Life
There is a non-profit organization in the UK called Bug Life. They are coordinating research and planning into this bold project. They have contacted farmers in Yorkshire who have since agreed to volunteer or receive grants for the Bee motorways. They will allow and maintain small sections of their land specifically for the scheme. The ambition is to provide bees and other insects with 3,000 miles of corridors. This will unobtrusively span the length and breadth of Britain's rugged landscape.
Summary
The bees motorway is so simple one can't help but wonder why no one thought of it before. It's an unobtrusive and logical approach to a complex problem. Will it work? The theory says it has to, but only time will tell. What we do know for sure is that doing nothing is not an option.