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(The Modesto Bee)  Scientists are suggesting that pollution might limit the effectiveness of bees as pollinators -- not that we need another reason to clean up our dirty air.

If that's true, it might help explain why bee populations are falling in the valley and elsewhere. It also could provide new understanding of how air pollution is linked to crop losses .

Writing in the March issue of the journal Atmospheric Environment, a team of University of Virginia researchers suggests that air pollution reduces the distance the scent-bearing hydrocarbon molecules released by flowers are able to travel. They found that air pollution can eliminate as much as 90 percent of flowers' aroma.

That limits their exposure to bees, which are keenly sensitive to the aromas. And that makes it harder for the bees to feed, which might be a reason bee populations are declining. As bee populations drop, it becomes harder and harder to propagate fruits and vegetables that depend on the bees for pollination.

With an enormous almond crop developing, this might not appear to be much of an issue. But farmers and agricultural experts are taking it seriously; they see enormous implications for our valley, with its vast acreage of flowering orchards and other bee-dependent crops.

There is no evidence yet that the pollution is to blame in any degree for the phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, or CCD, which causes bees to abandon otherwise healthy hives. Scientists have identified many other reasons to explain declining bee populations in some areas -- from some forms of pesticides to overworked bees. But air pollution could be another.

Ozone, in particular, is suspected of stifling plant aromas. And ozone pollution increases as the weather warms, just as plants are blooming. One of the largest contributors to increased ozone is vehicle exhaust.

We have plenty of other -- and perhaps more pressing -- reasons to reduce air pollution in valley skies. Start with 1,000 premature deaths each year, and additional health costs of $3 billion annually borne by valley residents. Maybe we need to add declining bee populations to this growing list of consequences of having bad air.



Source: The Modesto Bee
Author: The Modesto Bee