by Thomas Meinzen, Utah Forests Fellow
Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Vincent Tepedino never guessed he would end up studying bees for his career. He left Brooklyn in his early 30s to go west, “not knowing a bee from a barfly,” but went on to build a prolific career as a bee biologist in Utah. He’s published over 140 articles on everything from rare plant pollination to bee sampling techniques. Now in retirement, Vince uses his wealth of knowledge to advocate for native bee conservation. He is partnering with the Grand Canyon Trust to prevent commercial beekeepers from placing large numbers of introduced (European) honeybees on our public lands. On a recent sunny autumn morning, we dug into the remarkable qualities of native bees, dangers they face, and Vince’s reasons for studying them.
Dr. Tepedino made a career of studying bees — furry, sometimes flashy insects that are fundamental to plants, food, and wild lands.
I think the diversity of bees in the arid West — Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico — is remarkable. In Utah alone, there are over 1,100 native bee species, many of which are narrowly specialized to pollinate specific groups of plants. Bees are much more diverse in arid regions. For example, recent studies have shown that there are almost as many species in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as there are in the whole U.S. east of the Mississippi. Scientists have speculated about this strange distribution for decades, but nobody really understands how all these species coexist. This makes native bees and the plants they pollinate a fascinating system for studying evolution.
Habitat loss. In general, I think habitat loss is the biggest threat to bees. Also, away from public lands, pesticides are a serious problem. On public lands, I’m concerned about domestic cattle and sheep eating many of the wildflowers, and introduced honeybees competing with native bees for what remains. I think that a large increase in applications for honeybee permits on public lands is on the horizon. That’s going to be bad news for native species if land managers give out those permits.
Two big problems really stand out. First is the huge size of permit requests. For example, a commercial beekeeping company recently requested permits to place nearly 5,000 hives on Manti-La Sal National Forest in Utah. And each hive has 10,000 to 40,000 bees. This would flood the area with honeybees, which would use much, if not all, of the pollen and nectar there. That makes it very difficult for native bees to collect pollen and nectar, which they need to raise their young. So, native bees will become locally extinct, either by starving or being forced to leave the area in search of food.
Another major problem is the threat of disease transmission. Numerous recent studies show that honeybees carry a variety of diseases and parasites, many of which may harm native bees. The reverse is also true: native bees carry diseases to which honeybees have not been exposed and are likely susceptible. What sense does it make to expose the most important commercial pollinator in the world, honeybees, to new diseases when the industry is already experiencing difficulties?
They’re just wonderful creatures. They are a joy to observe, easy to work with, and spark interesting behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary questions. In addition to pollinating native plants, some also have potential to help pollinate our agricultural crops. And, unlike many people assume, they are not dangerous. I don’t think I’ve been stung five times in all my years as a researcher — and all those times were by accident. Mostly, though, bees are just marvelous to study. And they really are cute.
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