Maintaining a healthy buzz

Understanding the ups and downs of insect pollinators.

If you’ve ever noticed or heard a bumblebee vibrate its bottom while pollinating a tomato plant, and wondered why, you’re in good company. This is exactly the kind of behaviour that researchers are observing as part of the Living With Environmental Change accredited Insect Pollinators Initiative. The bumblebee’s vibrating bottom (known as “buzz pollination”) is an important part of the pollination process.

Bumblebees, along with honey bees, hoverflies and butterflies are just some of the insects which pollinate our crops, fruit trees and other plants. But several species of these insects are in decline. What researchers and policy makers need to find out is what actions and policies are needed to keep pollinator populations healthy and active in the face of threats.

The Insect Pollinators Initiative has been carefully shaped to ensure that research takes place into a range of very different factors that could affect our pollinators. Some researchers are looking at the impact of species loss, for instance, while others are looking at the effects of neonicotinoids and other pesticides, at disease impacts and even whether monoculture — the practice of growing a single crop for many kilometres — is making it hard for bee pollinators to find the variety of nutrition they need. Just like us, bees need a balanced diet and if they only fly a few kilometres, practices such as set aside and providing strips of diverse plants may be critical. The initiative is also an LWEC test bed for finding ways to improve the uptake of research into policy. See linked story for more detail of knowledge exchange good practice: "Timing is Vital...."