How do declining populations impact other small creatures and the overall environment?
A. Honeybees in the U.S. have been in decline since the 1940s from mites and a recent phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder, when worker bees suddenly disappear for an unknown reason. What many people don’t know is there are about 4,000 species of other bees native to the U.S. that also pollinate, sometimes more efficiently than honeybees. These bees include leaf-cutting bees, mason bees, orchard bees, and bumblebees. Unlike honeybees which live together in hives, some of these bees live solitarily in the ground or in trees. As honeybees decline, we’re going to need the services of these native bees more and more. Many native bees no longer have adequate space to live because large farms and development have gobbled up natural areas, so to keep them around we need to conserve their habitats. Q. Besides bees, what other small creatures perform similar important duties? A. Butterflies, moths, flies, birds, bats, and even small mammals like mice, all pollinate plants. Insects, in gen
