Thread by @SaveWildBees

It's #PollinatorWeek so let's bust some myths which often come up when I give presentations or talk to folks. Note: these will be Canada-centric. #savewildbees #PollinatorWeek2021

#1 Bees die when they sting: Honeybees are the only sp. that I know of w/ barbed stingers that get stuck when they sting. They have colonies w/ 10-60k workers & if some die while defending it's less of a big deal than for native spp.

ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore…

#2 Bees are striped yellow & black: bees are incredibly diverse. There are 20,000+ spp globally and they come in all sorts of colours & sizes. In Canada, the sweat bees are the largest group and they are mostly grey, green & silver!

https://twitter.com/BeesBackyard/status/1130818922461028353?s=19

#3 If we lose our native bees, we can replace them w/ managed bees: Maybe as a 🩹 solution for a few crops but native bees differ in their foraging behaviour, size, phenology etc. Needed for higher quality pollination of crops & 🌼 #DiversityIsResilience

https://twitter.com/SaveWildBees/status/1367085428587683844?s=19

#4 All bees are in decline: in CAN we don't know too much about the status of our 860+ bee spp. bc of lack of baseline data, lack of ongoing monitoring & taxonomic challenges. The best understood are the bumblebees & approx 1/4 of those are in decline.

iucnredlist.org/search/grid?ta…

5. Honeybees are endangered: The domestication of HBs has led to dec of some spp & subspecies in their native ranges, but A. mellifera is one of the most common, widespread & abundant insects globally. The # of hives has inc a lot in recent yrs, esp in cities like TO or Montreal

#6 Bees make honey: Honeybees (Apis spp) make large amts of honey. Some stingless bee species (e.g. Trigona, Melipona) in central/s America make smaller amts. Most bee spp. don't tho & in CAN native bees sleep through the winter w/o food stores.

#7 Bees live in hives: Only a small portion of bee species live in hives (e.g bumblebees, honeybees)Most bees are solitary; living underground, inside twigs or other cavities (e.g. check holes in brick mortar) & often in flight for only a few wks/yr.

press.princeton.edu/books/hardcove…

#8 All bees sting: Many species can't sting, especially the ones without a hive to protect. Also, stingers evolved from ovipositors so all male bees can't sting, despite what #TheBeeMovie told you. (That bee movie provided many myths to be busted)

#9 Bees are going extinct bc of flower loss & insecticides: this may be in some countries or regionally, but the patterns of decline for the bee spp. we know are at-risk of extinction in NA are better explained by novel diseases introduced by managed bees and/or #climatebreakdown

#10 Stressors to the honeybee industry are the same as wild bees:

No, threats are context-specific. Native bees have different habitat needs, behaviours, tolerances to disturbance etc.

HBs are moved to highly degraded landscapes, inc. exposure to insecticides & low nutrition.

#11 You can save bees by planting native flowers:

Planting native plants supports wildlife incl bees, birds & other insects. If you have access to space/time/resources, it's a great idea. But to "save bees" we need to deal w/ unsustainable ag practices & #climatebreakdown

#12 To "save bees" you should participate in #NoMowMay:

See #11. But also I have major concerns about encouraging people to grow invasives & non-natives to help bees. Long grass is used by some bees to nest but if you're going to mow it June 1st, the benefit is lost.

#13 To save bees, you should get honeybees for your property or workplace:

HBs are for people, not helping declining bees. They can inc threats by competing w/ native bees & spreading disease. They can disrupt pollination systems & allow weedy plants to proliferate #BeeWashing

#14 to "save bees" you should buy a bee condo:

I have not seen evidence of bee hotels helping declining bee spp., but lots of evidence that they support common or non-native spp. Also issues w/ cleaning, parasitism rates, being the right length, etc.

journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

#15 To support declining bees, you should spend $$$$:

The most helpful things folks can do are free! Spread the word about bee diversity, bee threats, etc. Participate in #citsci like @bumblebeewatch & write letters to your reps re #climatebreadown & #UnsustainableAg

#16 Cities are degraded landscapes that are awful for pollinators:

Study after study shows cities can support high pollinator diversity. They are places of plants spp. richness, low pesticide use, low managed bee use etc. Many at-risk bumblebees occur in cities.

Must do some work.

#17 "If bees disappeared from the face of the earth, humans would have 4 years to live"- Einstein.

He never said this!!!

jeffollerton.co.uk/2015/03/11/wha…

caerreading.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/com…

#18 Ag-lands are degraded habitats requiring managed bees to accomplish crop pollination:

Even when managed bees are brought in, wild bees (+ other insects) do a lot of the work. Farmers can be allies thru managing landscapes. See work by @ALUSCanada & @xercessociety

#19 Honeybees have been here for 400+ yrs & are naturalized:

HBs are still imported in large numbers annually w/ new diseases. Where I am, they do not overwinter well & rely on humans to keep them warm, medicate them, top-up food, etc.

#20 Cellphones are causing bee declines:

There was one poorly designed study looking at behaviour of HBs near cellphones & the media picked it up for headline news. The study wasn't published in a reputable journal. There's no evidence of cellphones causing bee declines.

#21 Carpenter bees will destroy your deck.

Unlike carpenter ants & termites, carpenter bees don't make long tunnels. I've seen decks w/ 100s of carpenter bee nests still intact structurally. Carpenter bees are native pollinators & docile so consider sharing your space w/ them.

#22 Wasps are assholes (you know the meme)

Inspired by a talk by @BeesNativePlant today, we have 13,000 spp of wasps in NA. They are totaly awesome & critical for balanced ecosystems. Buy Heather's book for more #WaspLove

#23 🐝 & 🦋 are the most important pollinators:

Flies 🪰 need more love 💜 ! They are especially important pollinators in more northern ecosystems. Here, @WPCWild911 describes some of the important groups.

https://twitter.com/WPCWild911/status/1407022075534057486?s=19