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SC Saturday, May 23, 2015 BEES CONTINUED FROM PAGE IC Bees provide a crucial link in the natural world. Bees pollinate 75 percent of our vegetables, fruits and nuts. Without pollination by bees, many crops could become ex- tinct. According to "Bee Basics," a publication of the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture Forest Service and the Polli- nator Partnership, about 4,000 species of bees live in the United States, but no honeybees existed here until European settlers brought them over in hives. Bees with names like the blueberry bee and squash bee pollinate native plants, with a single hardworking blueber- ry bee capable of visiting 50,000 blueberry flowers and generating 6,000 blueberries during its six weeks of life. Both honey bees and na- tive bee populations have been shrinking in recent years, and President Barack Obama is seeking $82 mil- lion in his 2016 budget to study the reasons for the losses, particularly the possi- bility that neonicotinoid or other pesticides are major culprits. Langer said similar re- search has been conducted at Bayer's Bee Centers for quite some time. She said bee sci- entists have not been able to link pesticide, when used ex- acily as intended, to major drops in bee populations. One of the most serious threats identified so far is the varroa mite, which carries vi- ruses and bacteria that are deadly to honeybees. Once the mite attaches to a bee like a tick and enters a hive, every bee in that community will likely become infected and die. Originating in Asia, where bees developed a natural re- sistance to the pathogens, varroa mites made their way to Europe in the 1970s and to North America in the 1980s. They wipe out millions of Western honeybees annually. Another deadly phenom- enon affecting honeybees is colony collapse disorder, in which entire colonies of worker bees disappear from the hive, leaving behind a queen and immature bees that cannot sustain them- selves. COREY LOWENSTEIN - NEWS & OBSERVER FILE PHOTO Bayer scientists study bee health at the Bayer North American Bee Care Center in Research Triangle Park. There are plenty of ways wildlife gardeners can give bee health a boost: ® Invest in native flowering plants that provide food for bees. On a single foraging trip, a bee will stop at 20 to 40 different flowers. Include plants with flowers of different sizes in order to ac- commodate big bumblebees, as well as more petite models. Even pots of flowers on the porch will help provide valuable habitat. • Include flowers with a variety of colors, scents and shapes. • Clump flowers together to make it easier for bees to jump from plant to plant. ® Don't apply pesticides and other chemicals between about 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., since that's when bees are most likely to be out- side the hive foraging for food. For more natural pest - control and gardening tips ,check out the Greenhouse Catalog website at greenhousecatalog.com/natural- gardening. For a fun way to learn more about bees and the plants that sus- tain them, try the Pollinator Partnership's Bee Smart application for Android and iPhone. It's available at pollinator.org. After down- loading the app, just type in your ZIP code for a list of suggested plants to grow in your area. The cause of the collapse disorder is still unknown, al- though factors suspected in- clude various viruses and fungi, genetic abnormalities, and loss of natural habitat that disrupts the bees' life cy- cle. Water shortages, unusual weather patterns and chem- ical pest control exposure are also of concern, according to the U.S. Environmental Agency's pollinator protec- tion site (http://l.usa.gov/lei7zxF). Another possible factor is the stress that honeybees are under from being transport- ed to multiple locations for pollination purposes, Langer said. Honeybees, she explained, are the most heavily traveled livestock in the United States. For example, Califor- nia's almond crop requires 1.7 million colonies of bees during pollination season in mid- February — that's about half of all the bee colonies in the U.S. Native bees are rarely af- fected by the verroa mite, but have suffered from a signifi- cant loss of local plant spe- cies. Pesticide misuse, cli- mate change and prolifera- tion of nonnative invasive species are also considered harmful to native bees. Langer agrees that pesti- cides may harm bees and oth- er insects if used incorrectly. "It's critical to read the la- bel — not only for the proper way to use pest control prod- ucts but also how often to ap- ply them," she said. "And it's important not to apply when bees are around or the flow- ers are in bloom that attract bees." Although the jury may be out on whether safe applica- tion of pesticides damages bees and bee colonies, I avoid using chemicals on my plants and lawn whenever possible. I believe that a gardener who is trying to attract wildlife has an extra obligation to protect creatures coming to the yard.