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Scientists identify culprit behind biggest-ever U.S. honey bee die-off

(www.science.org)
186 points pseudolus | 1 comments | 01 Jul 25 10:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.335s | source
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inetknght[dead post] ◴[01 Jul 25 14:46 UTC] No.44434412[source]▶
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pfdietz ◴[01 Jul 25 14:50 UTC] No.44434454[source]▶
All the major staple crops are wind pollinated, not insect pollinated.

The ultimate solution to this problem will be going back to a suite of native pollinators rather than depending on non-native honeybees.

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humblebeekeeper ◴[01 Jul 25 15:08 UTC] No.44434669[source]▶
Are staple crops the bar though? Like, I love rice, wheat, and potatoes, but I would be real sad to not have all the vegetables that are not wind pollinated. We've survive, but I don't think that's the bar, imo.
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pfdietz ◴[01 Jul 25 15:49 UTC] No.44435133[source]▶
When someone claims "Bees die = we starve" then, yes, staple crops are the bar.
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bluGill ◴[01 Jul 25 16:25 UTC] No.44435517[source]▶
Most staple crops are not bee polinated. Wheat is ant polinated (so I've been told by local naturalists who should have the background to know - others are claiming wind).
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1. pfdietz ◴[01 Jul 25 18:07 UTC] No.44436567[source]▶
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat

"The flowers are wind-pollinated, with over 99% of pollination events being self-pollinations and the rest cross-pollinations.[6] "

No mention of ants, and the reference [6] says "Normally at anthesis, the lemma and palea are pushed apart temporally (lasting for 8–30 min) by lodicules swelling, and the pollen dehiscences from anthers and falls on the ovary to accomplish fertilization (de Vries, 1971)."