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Interesting fact of the day: Despite the misinformation in the news both Bumblebee ๐ and Honey Bee populations are at an all time high for the last 50+ years.
there was a legitimate scare about 12 years ago, a momentary crash in numbers. But since then it has recovered very well as can be seen from the charts.
@freemo I haven't read about this in a long time, but my understanding was it wasn't necessarily domestic honey-producing species that were most under threat, but rather wild lesser known species, many of which are not closely monitored. So it may be more of a loss in biodiversity than overall numbers.
@danriggins Well, yes and no. After we recovered from CCD the species least susceptible to the disease grew in numbers at greater rates than those with more susceptibility. Since these bees mostly share the same niche a very natural process of shifting populations have occurred. Some species that were relatively rare are now abundant and some that were abundant (like bombis Affinis) are now relatively rare.
With that in mind it is entirely reasonable to continue to monitor and do science on what is going on.
But the important part is, 1) the populations are at an all time high 2) the shift in what species were dominate came about by almost entirely natural causes 3) these sorts of shifts in species populations are entirely normal in a healthy eco system. 4) relatively few species are even on the endangered list though. Throughout the continental USA only one bumble bee species became endangered as a result, all others are unlisted. This is Affinis and it is mostly due to extreme vulnerability to the pathogen that causes CCD.
