How to save the bees? Build an insect highway

THE bee population could be saved by ‘highways’ to help them travel to the best places to thrive according to scientists.

Bee numbers are declining worldwide – with 9 per cent of the insects under threat in Europe – but we rely on them to pollinate as much as 90 per cent of our food crops.

They have been affected by loss of habitat, changing temperatures and the use of more intensive farming methods.

But scientists have proposed a solution to help the population thrive – ‘bee highways’.

The paths of planted flowers would be around half a mile long, encouraging bees to move along them to other foraging locations in both the countryside and cities.

This will then reduce ‘green deserts’ – landscapes that are dominated by a single crop species – and help farmers to work with nature.

The idea comes in a landmark United Nations report on protecting bees. The authors, led by Professor Simon Potts of Reading University, said the highways could be made along railway verges, power lines, canals, hedgerows and roads.

Researchers said the move could ‘ enhance pollination of wild plants’.

Professor Potts said: ‘We conducted the most thorough review of the science ever undertaken, sifting through all the available evidence, to provide governments with the best and latest evidence on pollinator decline.

‘The UN report is a good start, but now we need action. We need governments, farmers, industry and the public around the world to act to stop further declines in bees and other pollinating animals.

‘It’s not all bad news for bees, and luckily we still have options to help. Doing nothing is a big risk that could endanger the global supply of nutritious foods and the livelihoods of millions of people.’

The report, published in the journal Nature, estimates 1.4billion jobs worldwide depend on pollinating insects such as bees, beetles and butterflies. Some 9 per cent of butterflies in Europe are also under threat.

Farmers should also create ‘ flower- rich field margins’ around their crops to encourage bees, and rotate flowering crops that will help the insects. Another issue noted in the report is that the worldwide transportation of honeybees has helped spread parasites such as the varroa mite and diseases to wild bee populations.

Bee expert Norman Carreck, from the laboratory of apiculture and social insects at Sussex University, called the report ‘wide-ranging and novel’.

There is some conflict over the effect of pesticides on bees, the report said. But it points to ‘some correlational evidence’ linking reduced wild bee numbers to the pesticides used on oilseed rape crops.