In the sweltering June heat of Ohio, beekeeper Isaac Barnes works tirelessly, moving boxes of honeycomb from his hives to his truck. The rising temperatures seem to transform the landscape into a sauna, challenging both Barnes and his bees.
Despite the heat, the bees face an even greater thermal challenge, with their body temperatures soaring up to 27 degrees Fahrenheit above the surrounding air. As climate change continues to drive global temperatures upward, scientists are keen to explore its effects on both managed and wild bees as they engage in their vital roles of pollination, nectar collection, honey production, and reproduction.
Recent research indicates that on particularly hot days, bees adapt by reducing their wingbeats during flight, a strategy that helps prevent their body temperatures from reaching critical levels, according to a study published last year.
Environmental physiologist Jon Harrison from Arizona State University, a contributor to the study, explains, “Just like we go into the shade, or we sweat or we might work less hard, bees actually do the exact same thing so they can avoid the heat.” However, this adaptation means bees may pause their usual activities, as noted by Kevin McCluney, a biology professor at Bowling Green State University. “They’re not going out and getting more nectar. They’re not mating. They’re not doing the things that bees would otherwise do,” he stated.
Challenges Beyond Heat for Essential Pollinators
While bees are generally resilient to heat, the warming climate could impair their ability to combat diseases and forage effectively. Habitat destruction, pesticide use, diseases, and limited forage also contribute to the decline of bees and other pollinators worldwide.
Margarita López-Uribe, a pollinator health expert at Pennsylvania State University, emphasizes, “If you’re not well-fed, and your body is intoxicated with pesticides and you have lots of diseases in your body, you’re going to be less heat-tolerant than if you were healthy.”
Data from the annual U.S. Beekeeping Survey reveals that beekeepers lost nearly 56% of their managed colonies this year, marking the highest loss since the survey began in 2010. Managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. are primarily used to pollinate crops like almonds, apples, cherries, and blueberries, and a decline in pollinators threatens crop yields.
López-Uribe points out, “It’s a very fragile system if you think about it. Because if something goes wrong, you have these super high-value crops that won’t get enough bees for pollination.”
Honeyrun Farms: Facing the Heat
At Honeyrun Farm in Ohio, Barnes confronts multiple challenges posed by the heat, including the threat of parasitic mites to his 500 honeybee hives. Applying formic acid, an organic mite control, becomes risky if temperatures are too high, as it could harm the bees. Last year, Barnes experienced the loss of almost a third of his hives sent to California for almond pollination, a loss he attributes to weakened hive health due to hot weather months prior.
“Dead hives aren’t pollinating the almonds,” Barnes noted, highlighting the ripple effect of summer heat. Yet, the heat occasionally benefits honey production; last summer, Ohio’s heat spurred a bumper crop of honey from soybean nectar. Still, Barnes laments the limited plant diversity in the area dominated by corn and soybean fields, noting that even native blooms are appearing unpredictably.
“Every single plant that blooms is something that the bee can use,” Barnes said. “And every single plant is affected by climate change.”
Uncertain Future for Research
In recent years, awareness of the global decline in pollinators has grown, but data on how climate change and heat stress contribute to this decline is still limited. Harrison, from Arizona State University, mentions, “It’s a relatively new focus for biology. I think it’s super important, but it’s not being studied a ton.”
However, research efforts face significant threats. The proposed budget from the Trump administration aims to cut funding for the USGS Bee Lab, which is instrumental in monitoring the nation’s wild bees. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon expressed concerns, stating that pollinators are in “grave danger” and vowed to fight for federal funding, emphasizing their importance to our ecosystem and food supply.
Harrison warns that cuts to research funding would halt his work and hinder the ability of scientists to study and mitigate pollinator losses, potentially leading to scarcity and price increases for fruits, vegetables, and other products reliant on pollination. “Hopefully, even if such research is defunded in the U.S., such research will continue in Europe and China, preventing these extreme scenarios,” he added.
Original Story at www.nbcdfw.com