Due to their fuzzy bodies and frequ

Due to their fuzzy bodies and frequent, consistent flower-visiting habits, bees (Apoidea)
are usually the most effective pollinators of
the numerous crops and wild plants that are
not wind-pollinated. The study of this important subject is difficult, due to the complex
interactions between the bees, their hosts,
and various environmental and economic
conditions; also, existing knowledge is
widely dispersed in the biological and other
literature (for example, Clements and Long,
1923; Grant, 1949; Schmid, 1975). This
review of interesting and still timely publications was compiled because many of the
early reports are not accessible by computerized literature search, and others are in
journals not searched by pollination biologists. Thus, there have been many oversights and omissions. In spite of many published reports to the contrary, most people
continue to simplistically credit the common
honey bee (Apis mellifera L) with nearly all
of the insect pollination in nature (for example, Barclay and Moffett, 1984) and agricultural crops (Anonymous, 1973; Cheung,
1973; McGregor, 1976; Levin, 1983; Robinson et al, 1989; references in Southwick
and Southwick, 1992).
At issue is the logical valuation of publicly shared assets (bees), most species and
populations belonging to nobody, yet benefiting all of us through pollination (in economics, a condition referred to as an ’externality’). Honey bees and certain stingless
honey bees were brought into domestication or management long ago, but for the
purpose of their honey and wax production
rather than for any superior pollinating abilities. Pollination of crops was not a consideration at that time. Because they were
owned by beekeepers and thus already had
value in the economic system (in economic
terms, were ’internalized’) and could be
managed, honey bees began to be used as
pollinators when populations of other bees (=
pollen bees) and crop yields declined, due to
new adverse agronomic and environmental
impacts. The challenge of bee and pollination
economics even launched J K Galbraith’s
distinguished career in economics (Voorhies
et al, 1933). The honey bee is a good general pollinator, but not for all crops, under all
conditions, just as the prolific freshwater carp
is a good fish, but others may be more suited
to different environments such as the sea,
tastier, or less bony. The pollination need is
similar to that in fisheries and aquaculture,
where, as ’free’ wild fish populations decline,
fish prices rise, and ever more species are
brought into domestication (aquaculture).
Since the Roman empire, the common carp
has been the world’s major cultured food
fish, but due to recently reduced populations
of wild fish there are now many more (in the
Washington DC area, farm-raised fish now
predominate in shops).
The rational assessment and valuation
of things that have been historically considered ’free’, such as clean air, adequate
water, fish, and pollinators, has become a
major concern in ecology, as scarcities of
such things increase (Meyer and Turner,
1992; Vitousek, 1994). It seems to be
human nature to unwittingly use up or
destroy our resources, unless they can be
specifically identified as worth saving, for
economic reasons, or as ultimately beneficial to human life. Economic rationales such
as, "what is it good for?" may be disguised
as environmental, religious and aesthetic
values in many cultures.
Thus, it is time to protect our native beneficial Apoidea through habitat conservation and sustainable agriculture, and to augment them with selected, managed pollinators that are best adapted to most efficiently
pollinate the flowers of our crops.