The Music of Bees

Content Warning: This section discusses mental health conditions.

Bees perform vital functions for the ecosystem. They pollinate 80% of flowering plants and many types of fruit, nuts, and vegetables. In addition, they produce food for wildlife, help maintain soil health, and help keep water clean. In recent decades, both commercial and wild bee populations have declined. Commercial honeybee colonies fell by more than 30% from 1989 to 2008, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (USAFacts Team. “How Much Have US Bee Populations Fallen, and Why?” USAFacts, 5 May 2023). Annual loss rates in the 1980s were as high as 9% nationwide but have moderated since then. For the decade 2012-2022, the highest loss rate was 4%, but regional variations were significant. According to USAFacts, “Kansas had the highest average quarterly colony loss rate between 2015 and 2022, losing one-fifth of state honeybee colonies each season.” Data on wild honeybees is harder to gather, but experts believe that their numbers are in steady decline.

In addition to the presence of parasites and the destruction of habitats, a significant cause of declining bee populations is the growing use of pesticides, which are applied, for example, to agricultural crops and horticultural gardens. A study published in Bee Journal in 2008 reported that of 1,300 pollen samples, 91% showed traces of pesticides (Grozinger, Christina, et al. “Pesticides and Pollinators.” Penn State Extension, 23 Nov. 2022). Other researchers found residues of more than 150 different chemicals in bee pollen (“Save the Bees.” Greenpeace).

The class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids is a major cause of the loss of pollinators and the deaths of bees. According to a scientific report by Greenpeace,

Neonicotinoids act on insect nervous systems. They accumulate in individual bees and within entire colonies, including the honey that bees feed to infant larvae. Bees that do not die outright, experience sub-lethal systemic effects, development defects, weakness, and loss of orientation. The die-off leaves fewer bees and weaker bees, who must work harder to produce honey in depleted wild habitats. These conditions create the nightmare formula for bee colony collapse (“Save the Bees”).

The term “neonicotinoid” will be familiar to readers of The Music of Bees since both Stan Hinatsu and Alice use the term. Stan, for example, says that SupraGro pesticide is “nothing more than a double dose of neonicotinoids” (214).