Editor’s note: Richard E.L. Rogers is an entomologist/apiologist for Bayer CropScience working from the company’s Research Triangle Park campus. He has been a professional entomologist for more than 35 years and has kept and studied honey bees since 1973. He began his career as a consultant in the Nova Scotia tree fruit industry. His work has included local and international projects on orchard and vegetable crop entomology, insect identification services, and biopesticide and bee health research.
We all know honey bees for their intrinsic abilities to produce honey and the occasional sting we might encounter, but honey bees are actually a crucial part of our food supply. In fact, approximately one-third of all the crops consumed in the United States come from insect-pollinated plants, and honey bees are responsible for 80 percent of that pollination. Without honey bees, we wouldn’t have mustard for our burgers or apples for our pies. Our grocery shelves would look fairly depleted and the cost of food production would rise.
With the need to feed an ever-growing population, we have seen a change in farming practices toward larger field sizes and less diversification in crops. To meet the increased demand for pollination of fruit, nut, and vegetable crops, commercial beekeepers frequently move their colonies thousands of miles every season. Honey bee colonies can be managed to increase the number of bees and moved to fields, orchards or ranches when needed, sometimes over great distances. Honey bees are efficient pollinators that increase the yield and quality of many crops which adds billions of dollars in value to agricultural production worldwide.
For example, many of the flowers that produce the important fruits, nuts and vegetables necessary for a healthy diet will only developed after honey bees have visited them. The vital role honey bees play in our agricultural system make the care and protection of them critical to the future of our planet’s food security.
There are numerous factors that can negatively impact honey bee health including viral and fungal diseases, parasitic mites, habitat loss, plant and bee protection products, nutritional deficiencies and hive management. Most scientists now agree that colony losses are the result of multiple causes, with no single factor being responsible. One of the most prominent causes of bee loss is the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, which can negatively impact even well-provisioned hives. The Varroa mite is an exotic parasite that feeds by sucking blood of honey bees. Unfortunately, strong colonies are excellent for Varroa population increases and as a result can cause colony loss especially in the fall and over winter. .
Because of Bayer CropScience’s ongoing commitment to solving these issues to protect honey bees, we broke ground on our North American Bee Care Center, located at our North American headquarters in Research Triangle Park on May 29. Bayer executives and employees were on hand to celebrate this new chapter in the company’s history of agricultural excellence. The Center is scheduled for completion by late fall, when it will become a hive of scientific research activity and is expected to contribute to a brighter outlook for honey bees.
In cooperation with local universities and the Bayer Bee Care Center in Monheim, Germany, the center in North Carolina will conduct research on the interdependent practices of apiculture (the keeping of bees, especially on a large scale) and agriculture to enhance bee health. The Bayer Bee Care Center will house a laboratory with advanced diagnostic tools to assist in various apiculture initiatives, including high-powered microscopes necessary for dissections and diagnostics. Collaborative research will focus on the development and testing of Varroa mite management tools and practices, with the goal to help solve the parasite problem currently decimating the healthy bee population. Graduate students from local universities and Research Triangle Park partners will have the opportunity to perform diagnostic work for processing samples and special projects as well.
More than just research will be key in educating the public on the important contribution honey bees make to feeding a growing world population. People need to see honey bees and other bees in action and become familiar with how they interact in the environment. This will be done through displays and demonstrations. The life cycle and activities of honey bees, including a queen, drones (male bees) and worker bees, of which there are up to 60,000 in a hive, will be displayed to the public via innovative viewing opportunities. To ensure the growth and productivity of a colony for producing honey, or pollinating crop and native plants, honey bees must be healthy. Think about the implications on successful crop pollination if researchers are able to protect honey bees from disease and other threats – our growing population will be better fed. Consumers will benefit from honey bee health through more readily available and affordable products. In order to address these food challenge issues, the Center will bring together significant technological, scientific and academic resources to ensure that the essential components of crop production – pollination and crop protection – can coexist for the benefit of all.
