Here’s my Op-Ed that appeared on the Saltwire Network today. I’ll include a link to the story at the end.
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INSECTS’ SILENT SUMMER CONCERNING:
On August 4th, Jamie Saunders’ letter asked, “Where have all the bees gone?” Sadly, it isn’t just the bees that are missing this summer. The milkweed patches planted in my garden several years ago, and that normally provide habitat for several dozen Monarch caterpillars that eclose into butterflies, are entirely silent this summer. I’ve been in touch with a great many others who also have milkweed patches grown for Monarchs, and it’s the same story throughout most of Nova Scotia. I’ve asked further afield and it’s much the same in Ontario and New York state. In fact, I’m hearing from those who reside much further afield that their pollinator gardens are mostly silent as well.
It’s not just Monarch butterflies either. For several years, I have participated in the National Moth Week species counts of moths during the last week of July. Last year, my total count of species was 181 species. This year it was 36 species! Same location. Same lamps. Same amount of effort in photographing and identifying the species. The very best count that anyone in the province had was 88 species. This isn’t good news. Moths are actually some of the hardest working of all pollinators.
But what about the Bees? Normally, the wildflowers in my garden are busy with Leafcutter Bees and Bumblebee worker bees along with many other insects. This year, I’ve seen only a scant handful of Leafcutters on a couple of afternoons, and for a long while after the Bumblebee queens appeared in the garden in spring, there was nothing at all. A few workers have recently turned up, but this is getting pretty late in the season for them to be making their first appearance. The only insects in abundance have been mosquitoes and blackflies, and thank goodness for them as they have probably been the main food sustaining birds and bats this year.
In 22 years of photographing all sorts of insects in various parts of North America, I have never seen such a silent summer. Based on the feedback from naturalist friends from all over, I am not alone in this observation.
None of the above may seem important to the average human being. Perhaps some will even rejoice over the disappearance of wasps, bees, butterflies and moths. However, declines in insect populations will have many serious consequences, especially the loss of pollinator insects, but also of those insects that have less visible but essential roles in the ecological workings of our planet. For those who might doubt this to be so, one need only read the prologue of Oliver Milman’s recently published book, “The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World”. A planet without insects would be well on its way to being dead. We should all be hoping that maybe this silent summer is an anomaly, but recent insect population trends suggest something decidedly less optimistic.
Once again I’m commenting on the lack of insects. I spoke with Phil Arenburg from Branch LaHave near New Germany at the Lunenburg farm market this morning about the bee problem. He said his bees are doing well but bee keepers he knows from the valley have lost a lot of hives (as one example) due to flooding of rivers and the loss was great…65% of his hives just floated away as the river rose (I should have listened more carefully about which river?) As well another producer told him in another location at an earlier time and he lost a lot of the larvae and early stages when water flooded the base trays in his location. So this would explain some of the paucity of adult bees. Bumble bees are better pollinators because pollen sticks to almost every part of their hairy bodies but their numbers are fewer in a colony, 150 as opposed to upwards of 95,000 honey bees per colony. Honey bees are less efficient because of their small size but they do make up for it by sheer numbers. Take away both, due to weather events, cold, flooding, disease etc and we see many fewer bees and pollination doesn’t happen reliably. A big problem for not only vegetable and fruit growers but also grain producers. Where do people think their flour comes from??
Thanks for commenting, Anne. Yes, even the honeybees seem to be down around my place. There are a few around most days, but it’s the solitary bees and wasps, butterflies, moths, and even spiders that seem to be absent. Very weird. I’m getting a ton of feedback from people all over –for example, a couple of very observant naturalists in Michigan — and they are really surprised by the lack of insects (and spiders) there. It’s pretty worrisome indeed.