San Diego County’s farmers rank No. 1 in both California and the nation in the production value of nursery, floriculture and avocados. We depend on bees to pollinate these crops and all the foliage across the county, whether a park in your neighborhood or a backyard.
Now those bees need help, and the city of San Diego has taken the first steps involving the wider community in helping the bees survive. It carries a tiny price tag but a much larger commitment by officials and eventually citizens to be a part of an action plan that was created by Bee City USA, which promotes invertebrate conservation across the country.
Bee City is the initiative of a nonprofit named after a blue butterfly native to California, the first butterfly known to become extinct in North America as a result of human activity. It’s called the Xerces Society, a science-based conservation organization.
Driving this effort, according to Xerces, is research showing “significant declines in native pollinator population sizes and ranges globally. In fact, up to 40% of pollinator species on earth may be at risk of extinction in the coming years as a result of habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change.”
It will cost taxpayers just $500 to join Bee City, and the city can leverage it’s membership to upgrade existing programs like BioDiverse SD. The city will be able to draw from expertise around the state, including scientists, land managers, educators, policymakers, farmers and other communities as well.
Encinitas, for example, is already a member. Its mayor, Tony Kranz, a beekeeper himself, said his city is “proud to now have the official designation as a Bee City from the Xerces Society, which recognizes the work we are doing in our community to maintain habitat that allows pollinators to thrive.”
It’s a bargain, and the help is needed and appreciated, said James Nieh, a professor of ecology, behavior and evolution at UC San Diego, and an expert on invertebrates, especially honeybees. His own research has focused on “how we can help honeybees that are affected by pesticides and diseases.”
He said he is excited about what his work with a scientific research group has found about bees in the San Diego region.
“It’s amazing. We have a greater diversity of bees within this small zone than almost any other region in the United States. There are over 600 species of bees, of which honeybees are only one of the species,” Nieh said.
“It’s true honey bees do pollinate a lot of our food. But they’re not the only bee; there are many native bees that are pollinating the food that we eat, and that are really just as important. But unfortunately, they’re largely neglected,” he added.
There are many misconceptions about bees, and the Bee City effort is intended to provide support and expertise to help better understand and cope with numerous issues facing pollinators, including climate change. For example, Nieh said most people don’t know honeybees are not native to our region.
Most bees in the region are hybrids, he pointed out, like the so-called “Africanized bees” with a name now considered offensive and racist by many. The name describes hybrid honey bees from Africa and Europe.
“These feral honey bees are definitely not native, but they now comprise a large proportion of the bees that are in Southern California,” Nieh said. “If you just walk outside and randomly grab a honeybee and it’s tested genetically, you will find that it has over a 70 % chance of being a hybrid”
The San Diego City Council’s Environment Committee has approved creating a memorandum of understanding with Bee City to bring before the full council.
“Achieving recognition as a Bee City USA affiliate is our commitment to promote pollinator health and minimize pesticides by the city of San Diego,” said Councilman Joe LaCava, who chairs the committee. “It signifies our dedication to biodiversity, conservation, and safeguarding our ecosystem.”
If all goes as planned, San Diego would become the largest city to be a part of the Bee City network.