Each year, she said honeybee colony loss overall can vary from 30 percent to 60 percent … or higher. And Mason said it could certainly contribute to, say, a resident of Arvada, Colorado, seeing fewer bees around his plants this time of year.
Fluctuations in the weather can also dramatically impact insects and pollinator populations from year to year, Mason said. And with climate change, erratic weather patterns are likely here to stay for a while.
Of course climate change is a complex issue and each species may react to the effects of climate change differently, Mason said. Colorado is home to an incredible diversity of native bees — more than species of them. The ones that might fare better as the climate and ecosystems shift, are the generalist bees, said Mason.
Whereas specialist bees have fewer adaptations on hand. Climate change might also push certain pollinator species to different elevations where the flora is different. And the pollinators might snooze and miss it. They could go hungry as a result, and populations might decline.
Just like with other wildlife species, many pollinators are losing their habitat spaces to human development, according to Mason. This is true especially for native bees. But Mason said this is one puzzle piece of pollinator health that regular people can help to keep in place — especially if you have any bit of ground or garden. Native bees and potentially other beneficial insects can utilize it.
Planting flowers is another thing people can do to provide food sources for nearly all local pollinators. That's what they've always relied on. Another important thing to keep in mind is that chemical pesticides can be harmful to pollinators. Mason helps train scores of volunteers across the state to go out in their own gardens or nearby natural environments where they observe and count native bees.
Almond trees flower in February and March, and by April the visiting commercial hives have usually been moved to other parts of the country to pollinate different crops. This relocation has taken longer this year as some drivers have been told to self-quarantine for 14 days when crossing state borders. In the US, commercial travelling bee hives are heavily relied upon to pollinate crops such as the Californian almond Credit: Getty Images. Typically, large insect surveys are carried out by scientists every spring.
Instead, ecologists and conservation groups have called on the wider public to help them gather scientific data during this time. This involves monitoring a small patch of flowers in your garden for 10 minutes, counting the number of insects you see and filling in an online form.
In April, FIT Counts were submitted online — more than double the number received at the same time last year. So as well as giving wild bees themselves a temporary respite, bee specialists are hopeful that increased awareness and engagement with bees could be a boon for conservation.
For some, like leaving verges wild, the change may not be so hard to maintain. For others, like keeping traffic volumes low, the changes would need to be more systemic. The emissions from travel it took to report this story were 0kg CO2: the writer interviewed sources remotely from the safety of lockdown.
The digital emissions from this story are an estimated 1. Find out more about how we calculated this figure here. Join one million Future fans by liking us on Facebook , or follow us on Twitter or Instagram. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. Scientists are researching the potential consequences of the rapid decline of the honey bee population in the U. Over the past 15 years, bee colonies have been disappearing in what is known as the "colony collapse disorder," according to National Geographic.
Between Oct. This past winter season represents the highest level of winter losses reported since the survey began in , according to the report. For the entire year -- April 1, , to April 1, -- the managed bee population decreased by The overall loss rate is around the average of what researchers and beekeepers have seen since , McArt said.
The number of hives that survive the winter months is an overall indicator of bee health, according to the U. Environmental Protection Agency. Worker bees tend to live longest during the winter -- up to six months -- and just four weeks in the spring and summer, according to the American Bee Journal.
Much of the produce seen in grocery stores -- watermelon, apples, peppers, cucumbers -- and nuts are pollinated by millions of European honey bees, or Apis mellifera, that travel across the country and are managed by commercial beekeepers, Mulica said.
These U. Wild bees and other pollinators take care of the rest.
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