U of L researcher to give the buzz on bees

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 23, 2024.

University of Lethbridge photo - The University of Lethbridge's Shelley Hoover, seen here working among hives, will unlock some of the mysteries surrounding the honey bee at next week's PUBlic Professor Series lecture.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

As bees are one of the most important animal species on the planet due to their pollinator ability, the University of Lethbridge will be offering a PUBlic Professor Series presentation on the subject next week.

Honey bee researcher Shelley Hoover will discuss during her presentation next Wednesday why people are so captivated by bees, how we use bees in our daily lives and how her lab is helping ensure Canadian bee populations are healthy.

In advance of her presentation, Hoover spoke to media on Tuesday and said bees have a huge impact on every human on earth because we all need to eat.

“Honeybees contribute to the yield or productivity of about 75 per cent of crop species,” said Hoover.

 She explained that many crops do not rely on bees’ pollination such as oats, wheat and rice as well as grasses and corn, but many other crops that are essential for nutrition do rely on them for their yields.

 “All the flowering plants are relying on bees for pollination as well as raspberries, pumpkins, squashes, canola seed production. All of those crops that are high value and nutritious for human health are reliant on bees for pollination,” said Hoover.

 She said that if bee numbers drop, the yield of those crops decline and the cost of those crops go up.

 “In Canada we’re relatively well off, but in some parts of the world it is a struggle for people just to get adequate nutrition, so you’ll see rates of malnutrition increase if you have not enough bees to get enough yield that people can afford to buy those nutritious food items,” said Hoover.

She added that bees are also influential in the economy and nutrition by their production of by-products such as honey, wax and royal jelly among others.

When talking about her presentation, Hoover said she will start off with why people are so fascinated with honeybees, why we love them so much and she will talk about our interactions with honeybees in Canada, and then a little bit about her research program.

 “And then finish with what people can do to help bees and beekeepers in Canada,” said Hoover.

She said that during her research, they used technology to selectively breed honeybees for disease resistance.

“That’s a really important way for us to breed healthier bees because it doesn’t involve using any pesticides that the pest could just become resistant to it,” said Hoover.

 When talking about why it is important to keep bees healthy, Hoover said there are ecological consequences of healthy populations and there are agricultural and human economic consequences.

 “If you look at the distribution of the European honeybee, it basically tracks the distribution of humans across the globe. They’re everywhere except the Arctic, Antarctic and sub-Saharan Africa,” said Hoover.

 She said bees are affected by global warming both directly and indirectly.

 “Heat affects honeybees, they’re animals, they drink, they can get too hot, but it also affects the plants that they pollinate,” said Hoover.

 She said this is why one research project is looking at growing canola under conditions where there’s heat and drought and how that affects their relationship with their pollinators.

“In Canada we have about 900 species of bees and we have about 380 species of native bees in Alberta. And then we have honeybees which are introduced to Canada from Europe, and bumble bees which are managed for usually greenhouse pollination,” said Hoover.

 She added that Canada has native leaf cutter bee species, but also a species of leaf cutter bee that was introduced from Europe, specifically to pollinate alfalfa and produce alfalfa seed as a forage crop.

 “Some bee species are specialists, and they like to pollinate a particular type of flower. Some bees are generalists, like the European honeybees and it will pollinate many different kinds of flowers,” said Hoover.

To learn more about bees, people can attend her presentation Wednesday Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Agri-Food Hub & Trade Centre.