野蜜蜂的灭绝

野生蜜蜂灭绝：为什么我们拯救了错误的蜜蜂

它们很奇怪、毛茸茸的，而且遇到了很多麻烦。这些昆虫实际上都是蜜蜂——野生蜜蜂。它们比酿造蜂蜜的种类更重要。人们真的很担心蜜蜂：“我们会认为蜜蜂的困境是理所当然的，但后果自负。”但大多数人不知道的是：全球范围内的蜜蜂数量正在增加。不仅如此，人类利用蜜蜂的方式也给它们带来了问题。在你的后院放置一个蜂巢并没有什么帮助。因为我们拯救了错误的蜜蜂。动物参与了世界上 90% 的开花植物的授粉。当你想到传粉者时，您可能会想到蜜蜂。这是因为蜜蜂和人类有着古老的关系。蜜蜂的管理已有数千年的历史。“有大量证据表明，它们在埃及和希腊的古代文化中也发挥着重要作用，因此养蜂业一直非常普遍。”阿克塞尔是世界自然保护联盟无脊椎动物保护委员会的主席。蜜蜂原产于亚洲、欧洲和非洲，但现在除了南极洲以外，无处不在。尽管还有另外 10 个已知物种，但欧洲蜜蜂（Apis mellifera)是最常见且研究最充分的蜜蜂。它们是一般授粉媒介，这意味着它们将为大多数植物授粉。尽管蜜蜂面临病虫害的威胁，但全球范围内的蜂群数量实际上正在增长。据联合国粮农组织称，自1961年以来，全球范围内管理的蜂巢增加了83%。“因为它们始终由养蜂人管理，并且还接受兽医治疗等，所以不存在灭绝的风险。”但采蜜蜜蜂并不是唯一的蜜蜂。“公众将蜜蜂与采蜜蜜蜂混为一谈。”我是伊莎贝尔，一位专门研究城市环境的授粉生态学研究员。 “例如，如果你谈论鸟类，而人们认为当你谈论鸟类时，你谈论的是鸡，情况也会是一样的。”野生蜜蜂约有 20,000 种，它们是最重要的野生授粉媒介。它们大多是独居的，与采蜜蜜蜂不同，它们适合特定的植物，这使得它们更擅长授粉。例如，一公顷苹果需要数以万计的蜜蜂授粉，但只需数百只这种野生蜜蜂- 因为角壁蜂（“Osmia Cornuta”）特别擅长为苹果授粉。“每种开花植物都与符合锁和钥匙原理的传粉者紧密相连。”萨布丽娜是一名昆虫学家，是有机农业研究所的项目经理。 “花朵和它所选择的传粉者之间的这种完美契合是几个世纪以来持续共同进化的产物，并且仍在发挥作用。”就像原产于中美洲和南美洲的南瓜蜂一样。它们非常适合南瓜植物。他们起得很早，南瓜花在清晨才开放，而采蜜蜜蜂还在睡觉。如果不喜欢南瓜吗？西红柿、土豆或茄子怎么样？这些作物还需要野生授粉媒介——准确地说，是像大黄蜂这样大声的授粉媒介。它们的花朵需要振动嗡嗡声来释放花粉。大黄蜂完美地提供了一些东西。采蜜蜜蜂就是不具备这种技能。但野生蜜蜂的数量正在严重减少。这不仅影响它们及其生态系统，还影响我们的粮食安全。自20世纪90年代以来，在世界范围内，野蜂多样性逐年减少。农药、集约化农业，尤其是栖息地丧失是主要驱动因素。最近的一项研究发现，我们可能已经失去了四分之一的野生蜜蜂物种，但由于缺乏全球数据，评估很难。不同地区的估计表明，超过 40% 的野生蜜蜂和蝴蝶物种受到威胁。农民已经注意到了差异。 “过去当他们沿着田野行走时，一切都充满了授粉昆虫，而现在一切似乎都平静下来了，没有人知道它们在哪里。”这种多样性的丧失可能会对整个生态系统造成连锁反应。授粉媒介多样性减少意味着野生植物减少。这会伤害使用它们作为食物或庇护所的动物。这对我们食品的未来也不利。 “与只有蜜蜂访问相比，当有多种传粉媒介访问时，栽培植物的产量更高。”还记得苹果专家角壁蜂（Osmia cornuta） 吗？“苹果树的大部分授粉是由几个物种进行的野生蜜蜂，所以，如果你没有得到这些野生蜜蜂，你的苹果产量就会减少。”由于野生传粉媒介的减少，美国农作物的产量已经减少。在全球范围内，我们正在种植越来越多需要动物授粉的作物，例如水果、蔬菜和油料种子。蜜蜂的增加并没有跟上。这意味着自 1961 年以来，授粉媒介的依赖性增加了约 70%。再加上野生授粉媒介的减少意味着全球粮食供应出现紧急情况。在拥有许多破坏野生授粉媒介栖息地的大型单一文化的国家尤其如此，就像中国和美国一样。不仅如此，我们使用蜜蜂的方式实际上使它们成为问题的一部分。据美国养蜂业联合会称，美国 270 万个蜂群中有三分之二用于授粉。大多数杏仁产自加利福尼亚州的杏仁田，世界上 80% 的杏仁都产自那里。然后蜜蜂在全国各地轮流为其他农作物授粉。世界上没有其他地方像美国那样使用蜜蜂授粉，但随着野生授粉媒介的消失，这种趋势在欧洲也在增长。不幸的是，这对采蜜蜜蜂来说不太好。它们可能会接触到农作物中的杀虫剂，或者感染其他群体的疾病。这些蜜蜂也对野生蜜蜂构成威胁。“蜂巢内有数以万计的个体，它们需要大量、大量的食物。它们会吃掉大部分花卉资源，而没有足够的资源供其他授粉物种使用。” “如果你有很多很多蜜蜂，那么它们可能会非常非常快地击败这些本地物种。”蜜蜂还会向野蜂传播疾病。受感染的蜜蜂可能会在花朵上留下一些病毒，并被下一次造访的野蜂感染。这不是蜜蜂的错，但“拯救蜜蜂”绝对并不意味着向环境中添加更多物质。 “很多人认为他们只能拯救蜜蜂当后院有自己的蜂箱时。这是保护授粉媒介的错误方法。”那么什么是正确的方法呢？工业化农业是对所有蜜蜂的最大威胁。它使用有害化学物质，并依赖大片土地种植一种作物。理想情况下，我们改变整个食物系统。但就个人而言，支持小规模、可持续的农民（如果可行的话）也可以支持野生蜜蜂的多样化栖息地。后院还可以做更多的事情，比如保留本地植物或种植新植物。开阔、阳光充足的地面或枯死的原木也是野生蜜蜂的绝佳繁殖地。但最重要的是，他们需要更多的关注。我们需要蜜蜂，但不会面临失去它们的危险。对于野蜂来说则是另一回事了。 “你知道野生蜜蜂有那么酷吗？我爱上了 Osmia cornuta，那只苹果蜂——它太可爱了！

Wild bee extinction: why we’re saving the wrong bees

They’re weird, fuzzy and in a lot of trouble. These insects are actually all bees – wild ones. And they’re delectably more important than the honey-making kind. People are really worried about bees: “We will take the plight of the honey bee for granted at our own peril.” But what most people don’t know: Honeybee numbers are increasing worldwide. Not just that, but the way humans use honeybees makes them a problem. Putting a honeybee hive in your backyard doesn’t help. Because we are saving the wrong bees. Animals are involved in the pollination of 90% of the world’s flowering plants. And when you think of pollinators, the honeybee probably comes to mind. That’s because honeybees and humans have an ancient relationship. Bees have been managed for thousands of years. “There's a lot of evidence that they played an important role also in the ancient cultures in Egypt and Greece, so beekeeping has always been very widespread.” Axel is the chair of the Invertebrate Conservation Committee at the IUCN. Honeybees are native to Asia, Europe, and Africa, but nowadays are everywhere except Antarctica. Apis Mellifera is the most common honeybee and the best-studied, although there are another 10 known species. They are general pollinators, meaning they will pollinate most plants. And although honeybees are at risk from pests and disease, the number of colonies worldwide is actually growing. According to the FAO, managed hives have increased worldwide by 83% since 1961. “Because they are always managed by the beekeepers and also receive veterinary treatment and so on, there's no risk that they will become extinct.” But honeybees aren’t the only bees. “The general public confounds bees with the honey bee.” This is Isabelle, a pollination ecology researcher specializing in urban environments. “It would be the same situation if, for example, you were talking about birds and people think that when you talk about birds, you talk about chicken.” There are around 20,000 different species of wild bees, and they are the most important wild pollinators. They’re mostly solitary, and unlike honeybees are suited to specific plants, which makes them much better at pollinating. A hectare of apples, for example, would require tens of thousands of honeybees to

pollinate, but only hundreds of this wild bee – because “Osmia Cornuta” is particularly good at apple pollination. “Each flowering plant is strongly connected to a pollinator that fits accordingly to the lock and key principle.” An entomologist by training, Sabrina is a project manager at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture. “This perfect fit between flower and its selected pollinator is the product of an ongoing co-evolution for centuries that is still operating.” Like the squash bees native to Central and South America. They’re perfectly suited to squash plants. They are early risers, and squash flowers are only open early in the morning, while honeybees are still asleep. Don’t like squash? How about tomatoes, potatoes or eggplant? These crops also need wild pollinators — loud ones like bumblebees to be precise. Their flowers require a vibrating buzz to release their pollen; something a bumblebee perfectly provides.

Honeybees just don’t have that skill. But wild bees are in serious decline. And this doesn’t only affect them and their ecosystems – but our food security as well. Worldwide, wild bee diversity has been decreasing each year since the 1990s. Pesticides, intensive agriculture, and especially habitat loss are main drivers. A recent study found that we may have already lost a quarter of wild bee species, but assessment is hard due to the lack of global data.

Various regional estimates suggest over 40% of wild bee and butterfly species are threatened. Farmers are already noticing a difference. “When they walked along a field, everything was full of pollinators, and nowadays it's more like everything is calmed down and nobody knows where they are.” This loss of diversity can cause knock-on effects on whole ecosystems. Less pollinator diversity means fewer wild plants. This hurts animals that use them for food or shelter. And it’s also bad for the future of our food. “The yield of cultivated plants is higher when there are visits by a variety of pollinators compared to when they are visited by only honeybees.” Remember Osmia cornuta, the apple specialist? “Most of the pollination of apple trees is performed by several species

of wild bees, so, if you don’t get these wild bees you will get a crop of apples that would be reduced.” US crops are already producing less due to wild pollinator decline. And globally we’re planting more and more of the crops that require animal pollination like fruits, vegetables and oil seeds. The increase in honeybees hasn’t kept up. This means pollinator dependence has increased around 70% since 1961. And combined with the decline in wild pollinators

means an emergency for the global food supply. This is especially true in countries with many large mono cultures that destroy wild pollinator habitats,

like China and the United States. Not only that —the way we use honeybees actually makes them part of the problem. According to the American Beekeeping Federation, two-thirds of the 2.7 million honeybee colonies in the US are used for pollination. Most go to the almond fields in California, where 80% of the world’s almonds come from. Then bees rotate around the country to pollinate other crops. Nowhere else in the world uses honeybees for pollination like the US, but the trend is growing in Europe too, as wild pollinators disappear. Unfortunately, it’s not so good for the honeybees. They can be exposed to pesticides from the crops or catch diseases from the other colonies. And these honeybees are also a threat to wild ones. “Within the honeybee hive you have tens of thousands of individuals that need a lot, a lot of food. They will eat most of the floral resources and there will not be enough left for the other pollinating species.” “If you have many, many bees, then they will probably out compete these native species very, very fast.” Honeybees can also spread disease to wild bees. An infected bee can leave some virus on a flower, to be picked up by the next wild bee that visits. It’s not the honeybees’ fault, but ‘save the bees’ definitely does not mean adding more into the environment. “There have been a lot of people that thought that they could only save the bees

when having their own beehive in the backyard. And that's the wrong way to conserve pollinators.” So what’s the right way? Industrial agriculture is the biggest threat to all bees. It uses harmful chemicals, and relies on huge fields of one crop. Ideally, we change our whole food system. But on a personal level, supporting small-scale, sustainable farmers, if viable, also supports diverse habitats for wild bees. Even more can be done with a backyard, like leaving native plants alone or planting new ones. Open, sunny ground or dead logs also make great breeding spots for wild bees. But most of all, they need more attention. We need honeybees but aren’t in danger of losing them. With the wild bees it’s another story. “Did you have any idea wild bees were that cool? I am in love with Osmia cornuta, that apple bee — it’s so cute!