GGC Researchers on the Hunt for Honey Bees Alternatives

Honey bees pollinate 90percent of all of the fruit and vegetable crops grown in the United States. In late 2006, a drastic rise was noticed in the disappearance of honey bee colonies in North America. The cause or causes of the syndrome affecting these bees globally are yet to be determined. Speculation as to the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) range from pests (such as Varroa mites), insect diseases, to environmental changes caused by the use of pesticides resulting in malnutrition. And while no evidence has been found to support these assertions, cell phone radiation and genetically modified crops with pest control characteristics, have also been mentioned as culprits.    

Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Mark Schlueter and student researcher Nick Stewart are focusing their efforts not on the cause of European honey bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), but on finding pollination alternatives. To determine these other sources of pollination, Schlueter and Stewart are conducting a multi-year, full season apple specific study. Schlueter and Stewart are quick to point out that methodology and information gathered from their study can be applied to all other fruits and vegetables germane to researched areas.

“Due to CCD, farmers in Georgia are bringing in commercial honey bees to pollinate their fruits and vegetables. If a natural alternative to honey bee pollination is not found and if pollination has to be done by hand (brushing each bloom with pollen) would not only be time consuming, but would result in much, much higher food cost. These days we pay about $1.60 for a pound of apples. If a solution to CCD is not found, we could easily pay $4.00 to $6.00 for one apple. Or $30 to $50 for one watermelon,” said Stewart.

Prior to the Europeans bringing honey bees to Jamestown, pollination of crops was done by bees indigenous to that particular part of the country. In doing what they were brought here to do, originally to produce honey, honey bees migrated, flourished and became this country’s most predominate source for pollination.

Schlueter and Stewart are on a course to change, or more accurately, to reverse our honey bee pollination dependency.

“Unlike other researchers we are trying to discover and identify which native pollinators are in the areas of our study. Which (pollinators) have the abundance and diversity (required to be legitimate alternatives); which (of them) have the ability to pollinate targeted crops,” said Dr. Schlueter.

Schlueter and Stewart are conducting their two year study in the northern region of Georgia. Study sites are on several farms, varying in size, along the Georgia and Tennessee borders. To conduct these in field studies, Schlueter and Stewart have strategically placed insect traps. Using a plot design created by Stewart, netting, pan and vane traps are placed in designated spots within the orchards. The plot design is not crop specific, meaning it can be used in and customized to any study area. These traps are placed on the ground and some are elevated, to ensure cross sectional capturing of bees no matter how high or low they might travel to and from crops.

Malaise or netting traps give Schlueter and Stewart a broader picture of the types of pollinators at work in their study area. This type of trap catches the largest amount of insects. Fluorescent colored pan and vane traps are filled with soapy water to attract insects. Using these three types of traps leaves the insects intact which allows for proper identification.

They chose to conduct studies in apple orchards because apples are major crops throughout the United States. Apples have a very specific bloom period. This allows for the sampling of crops from the last freeze of winter all the way to the first freeze of fall. Apples also have a very short bloom period, this year it unexpectedly came early, two to three weeks in April. The early bloom caused Schlueter and Stewart to scramble to get ready for sampling.

Schlueter and Stewart estimate that there are 380 species or types of bees in Georgia. There are over 1,400 different types of bees in the U.S. And 20,000 species of bees worldwide said Stewart, who has been officially studying bees for more than eight years. In the apple orchards used for study, Schlueter and Stewart have identified 90 of the 380 species of bees found in Georgia.

In response to with 380 types of bees why is there a panic about CCD, Stewart said, “Because at this point and time we cannot make (alternative pollinators) as abundant as we need them to be to pollinate massive agricultural operations. We could for a home garden, but not for 100,000 apple trees.”  

So far types of bees showing the greatest promise as alternative pollinators are the commonly call sweat bees and Mason bees. Already Mason bees are considered to be the next up and coming commercial source for pollination. Stewart said they are more efficient pollinators than the bumble bees.

Because Mason bees form smaller or no colonies at all, Schlueter said takes research findings back to numbers or abundance issues. For now, due to their numbers neither the Mason bees nor the sweat bees can fully replace honey bees.              

“Our goal is not to domesticate bees. We are simply trying to find the species or the groups that through specific intelligent habitat enrichments we can maximize their abundance to do the job that commercial honey bee are doing,” said Stewart. “Our study is unlike any study being conducted, because of the protocols I created. And due to the frequency of sampling and to the degree (of study) that makes our study very labor intensive.”

Schlueter and Stewart's research has not only gotten the attention of the USDA, but some much needed funding from it as well. They recently received a $15,000 SAR (Sustainable Agricultural Research) Extension Grant. Using this grant as a springboard to attract and achieve national research funding, they hope to hire research assistants for this study that will go on with no set end date. 

The University of Georgia’s Natural History Museum has assisted Schlueter and Stewart with bees identification. UGA houses the official collection of all bees known to be in the state. Stewart, upon graduation hopes to parlay this research into a joint operation between GGC and UGA.