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Posted on 02/19/2012 6:43:34 PM PST by ColdOne
n contrast some geranium species, which are a favourite among gardeners, are barely ever visited by the insects and popular types of Dahlia such as the cactus Tahiti and pom pom shaped Dahlia Franz Kafka were found to be poor at providing food for foraging bees.
In the UK honey bee numbers have halved in the past 25 years while numbers of bumblebees have fallen by around 60 per cent since 1970 with three species going extinct and seven suffering serious declines.
The researchers hope their work can help reverse the decline in many bee species by allowing gardeners to choose plants that will ensure bees have a good supply of food in their flower beds.
Mihail Garbuzov, who is leading the project at the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects at the University of Sussex, said: "While there are a lot of lists recommending flowers to plant to promote bees in gardens, but as far as we know, few seem to be based on empirical evidence.
"We have been conducting work that suggests honey bees have to travel further to find food in the late summer, which may be because it is harder for them to find suitable flowers.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
What can go wrong?
Hay fever epidemic?
See Death of the Bees. Genetically Modified Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America
Commercial bees have become too genetically narrow, and their monoculture has led to the prosperity for the parasitic throat mites which have been destroying them for decades now, beginning (if memory serves) in the UK.
The level of Luddite paranoia around here is appalling.
Thanks ColdOne.
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