But biologists 'don't present the whole picture,' Guelph bee expert says

Joseph Hall Staff Reporter

A frightening buzz over the imminent demise of honeybees – and the disappearance of their critical pollinating prowess – is unfounded, according to a new Canadian-led study that shows their global numbers actually growing.

High-profile stories during the past three years detailing the mysterious decimation of thousands of bee keeper colonies had led to fears that the human food supply was being imperilled by a "pollination crisis," says the study, which appears today in the journal Current Biology.

"But the declines in the U.S.A., some European countries and the former U.S.S.R. are more than offset by large increases elsewhere, including Canada, Argentina, Spain and especially China," says University of Calgary biologist Lawrence Harder.

Harder, who helped lead the worldwide survey of honeybee populations, says the number of hives in this country, for example, rose 65 per cent over the past half century and by 240 per cent in Spain.

For full article, click here.