Great British Bioscience — Happy #PollinatorAwarenessWeek This week, we...

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Happy #PollinatorAwarenessWeek

This week, we celebrate the humble insect pollinators who work hard to keep us fed. 

Some of nature’s tastiest treats such as apples, strawberries and raspberries are all reliant on insects including bees. Globally, the free service provided by pollinators is said to be worth around $153 billion per year. 

The steady decline of these important insects over the years raises concern about our ability to feed a growing population. 

However, by researching the causes and consequences of threats to insect pollinators, we can help develop strategies to help them to thrive.

Read more

Image credit (top to bottom): William Richardson, Kevin Rangeley, Anna G.

Follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #PollinatorAwarenessWeek.

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Bloodsucking mite threatens UK honey bees This is an image of a Varroa mite in a beehive. Scientists have discovered how this bloodsucking parasite has transformed Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) into one of the biggest threats facing UK...

Bloodsucking mite threatens UK honey bees

This is an image of a Varroa mite in a beehive.

Scientists have discovered how this bloodsucking parasite has transformed Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) into one of the biggest threats facing UK honeybees.

Honeybees are a key pollinating insect, adding around $40Bn globally to crop value. Over recent years the spread of parasites and the viruses they transmit has resulted in high overwintering colony losses.

New and emerging threats to insect pollinators are putting increasing pressure on the agricultural sector to meet the demands of a growing population.

DWV is one of the most common viruses infecting European honeybees. Although present in almost all colonies, high levels of deformed wing disease – characterised by developmental deformities, reduced foraging ability and longevity – are only common when Varroa is also present.

Researchers at the University of Warwick have discovered how the disease is amplified in the presence of Varroa destructor, a tiny parasitic mite invading hives across the globe.

Read more

For more bee related news: http://tmblr.co/ZtJ7bquwSmky

Image by Giles San Martin

science bioscience BBSRC BBSRC20 honey bees parasite pollinators viruses

Loss of wild flowers across Britain matches pollinator decline

The first ever Britain-wide assessment of the value of wild flowers as food for pollinators shows that decreasing floral resources mirror the decline of pollinating insects, providing new evidence to support the link between plant and pollinator decline.

In recent years, there have been considerable concerns over threats to wild bees and other insect pollinators which are vital to the success of important food crops and wild flowers.

Amongst the many pressures facing pollinators, a key factor is likely to be decreasing floral resources in Britain. 

The study, published in Nature combines vegetation survey data recorded over the last 80 years with modern day measurements of nectar to provide the most comprehensive assessment ever published. 

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bee bees honey bees pollinators wild flowers flowers nectar food security crops science biology conservation environment habitat habitat loss bbsrc pollinator plants nature

The Urban Pollinators Project

Pollinators such as the Common Blue butterfly and Early-nesting Bumblebee, which are shown in these images, play a vital role in maintaining our food supplies. But like many others, these species are struggling in the UK countryside.  

UK apples, strawberries, raspberries, beans and tomatoes are all reliant on insect pollinators. Globally, crop pollination services are estimated to be worth $153 billion per year. Understanding the influences that the landscape and other environmental factors can have on our pollinators is therefore of huge importance.

The Urban Pollinators Project, led by scientists at the University of Bristol, is studying how effective our towns and cities are for our bees and other pollinators. 

A staggering 98% of the country’s flower-rich meadows have been lost since the end of the Second World War but gardens, allotments and other flower-rich habitats in urban areas could provide a haven for these important insects.

In Bristol, Leeds, Reading and Edinburgh, city-wide surveys of pollinators, together with 60 pollen- and nectar-rich flowering meadows are helping our pollinators flourish. 

Read more on this topic at the project website: www.urbanpollinators.org

and blog: http://urbanpollinators.blogspot.co.uk/

For more BBSRC research on pollinators go to: ht.ly/tOmAb

Copyright: Jane Memmott from the Pollinators Project

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Bee flower choices altered by pesticide exposure

Scientists have shown that low levels of pesticides can impact the foraging behaviour of bumblebees on wild flowers, changing their flower preferences and hindering their ability to learn the skills needed to extract nectar and pollen.

Bees and other insects pollinate many of the world’s important food crops and wild plants, and have been threatened in recent years.

The study is the first to explore how pesticides may impact the ability of bumblebees to forage from common wildflowers in the UK that have complex shapes. 

Read more

Image credits: westpark (top), Chris Fifield-Smith (bottom)

bees bee bumblebees pollinators biology ecology food security flowers bbsrc science insects hymenoptera nectar pollen pollinate pollination

7 Christmas foods that could disappear without pollinators

If you want your Christmas dinner, trimmings and all, pollinators are pretty vital. Without them there would be a gaping hole left on the Christmas dinner table.

1. Brussels sprouts

Weather you love them or hate them, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without sprouts. Brussels sprouts are pollinated by both bees and flies.
Without pollination there is no seed. And without the seed we would have no more Brussels sprouts…..devastating right?

2. Bread sauce

To go along with your brussels sprouts you may opt-in for a bit of bread sauce. This delicious condiment contains dairy products.

Without bees, flies and hoverflies, who are the main pollinators of pasture plants such as clovers, vetches, chicory and plantain, dairy cattle would find themselves with very little to graze on. Then we would get no dairy to make our bread sauce.

3. Nutmeg

Whilst you scoff your nutmeg-roasted turkey this year – Recipe here: http://bit.ly/1wFxwvz - take a second to remember the insects that assisted the delicious taste. Tropical beetles, thrips and solitary bees all pollinate the nutmeg flower.

4. Mulled wine

Getting merry on mulled wine is a must at Christmas and to make this delicious drink you need grapes, cloves and cinnamon.

Many commercial grapes are hand pollinated but they also, along with cloves and cinnamon, rely on pollination by bees and flies.

5. Chocolate

To make chocolate you need cocoa. Cocoa comes from the cocoa tree whose flowers can only be pollinated by small midges that can navigate their way to the cocoa blossom’s complicated parts.

Without these critters you would have no chocolate! That means no chocolates, no chocolate puds, no hot chocolate, not chocolate liquor… you get the picture.

6. Stuffing

Stuffing contains sage, onion, chestnuts and apples, all of which need bees for pollination. If you are the type of person that wants to safeguard the survival of said mush, we need to support our bees, because without bees stuffing is out.

7. Mistletoe

Your bellies are full, your hearts are warmed and Christmas spirit is high. At this point nothing is quite as good as a Christmas kiss, and here again pollinators can help again.

Mistletoe requires flies to pollinate their flowers. So technically, without flies we would miss out on a good percentage of Christmas kisses.

Read more:
Many species of pollinator are now under threat. The Insect Pollinators Initiative (IPI) funds research into the causes and consequences of insect pollinator decline and to inform efforts to do something about it https://wiki.ceh.ac.uk/display/ukipi/Home

All images of pollinators copyright: Helen Morse

Top right copyright: istock Thinkstock

Bottom left copyright: Andrea Goh - http://thebokeeffect.com/ 

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First study showing pesticide exposure can affect crop pollination by bees 

For the first time an international team of researchers have shown that pesticides impair the pollination services provided by bumblebees.

Bees play a vital role in pollinating some of the most important food crops globally and have been declining in recent years. Until now research on pesticide effects has been limited to their impact on bees, rather than the pollination services they provide.

The study discovered that bumblebees exposed to a realistic level of neonicotinoid pesticides found in agricultural environments collected pollen from apple trees less often and visited flowers less frequently.

The findings of this study have important implications for both society and the economy, as insect pollination services to crops are worth at least $361Bn worldwide every year, and are vital to the functioning of natural ecosystem.  

Read more

Image credits: Victoria Wickens, Dara Stanley, Dara Stanley

bees bumblebees pesticides crops pollination agriculture food security apples science nature bumblebee bee pollinator BBSRC biology
Stunning entry from Ben Gazur for BBSRC’s 2009 photo comp The image represents the insect flight paths underpinning the science of pollination and highlights the importance of research in this area for future food security. Enter your...

Stunning entry from Ben Gazur for BBSRC’s 2009 photo comp

The image represents the insect flight paths underpinning the science of pollination and highlights the importance of research in this area for future food security.

Enter your #ImageswithImpact to BBSRC’s latest competition at http://bbsrc2014.picturk.com/, seeking the best photos that represent how life sciences are changing the world, in areas like: food, farming, bioenergy, biotech, industry and health. 

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Flower forces that bait our bees

Have you ever felt the hairs on your arm stand on end when you brush past an old television screen? Or stuck a balloon to the wall after rubbing it on your jumper? If so you’ve experienced part of the world of static electricity, but you probably haven’t felt the electrical pull of a bee’s wings or the charged electric advertisement of a flower. These tiny electric fields are sensed by bees and used to make important decisions in their lives, like which flowers to visit and which to ignore, and can even help them communicate with each-other inside their hive. 

In the top image you can see yellow electrically charged paint being sprayed on a Geranium flower to reveal the fine structure of their electric fields. 

In the bottom images you can see a computer simulation of the electric field arising from the interaction between a bumblebee and a petunia flower.

Make sure you get to the Great British Bioscience Festival in London in November to find out more about how electricity helps bees pollinate flowers.

To find out more, visit: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/society/exhibitions/gb-bioscience-festival/electrostatic-interactions-flowers-bees.aspx

Top images copyright: Dominic Clarke/Daniel Robert/Heather Whitney 

Bottom image copyright: Dominic Clarke/Julian Harris 

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Chapattis Vs Zinc Deficiency

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Zinc deficiency affects around 17% of the world’s population, mostly in developing countries. In Pakistan, the most recent national nutrition survey indicated that over 40% of women are zinc deficient. Stunted growth and development in children, increased susceptibility to infections, and complications during pregnancy and childbirth are just some of the consequences of zinc deficiency. Potentially leading to severe illness and death, this seemingly invisible deficiency has a negative economic impact on the family, the community, and the region more broadly.

So in May 2017 a group of researchers from the University of Central Lancashire started investigating whether a newly developed strain of biofortified wheat could increase dietary zinc intake in Pakistan by integrating the wheat into normal eating habits, and is being used is used to make chapattis – a staple food in the brick kiln communities of Peshawar.

Biofortified crops are developed using conventional plant breeding techniques, like cross-breeding standard varieties with their wild relatives over several generations. This means that biofortified crops are often more resilient to pests, diseases, higher temperatures and drought, as well as having higher micronutrient concentrations, such as zinc.

The trials were successfully completed in February this year, and the team are heading out to Pakistan this month to meet with research partners. The next steps are laboratory analysis, data entry and statistical analysis, and the team hope they will show improved zinc status associated with consuming bio-fortified zinc flour.

pakistan wheat chapattis biofortification bioscience lancashire peshawar zinc deficiency micronutrients food security health
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