POLLINATORS POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION

THE ASSESSMENT REPORT ON POLLINATORS, POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION
In a similar vein, other studies have shown that people’s
aesthetic preferences lean toward floral diverse areas (e.g.,
Junge et al., 2011).
delivered training, but the impact on pollinator conservation
of this increased capability is, of course, difficult to assess.
Provision of these courses in developing countries especially
is limited by availability of funding.
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6. RESPONSES TO RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES ASSOCIATED
WITH POLLINATORS AND POLLINATION
6.4.3.5 Knowledge responses
Reviews of regional conservation needs for pollinators
have identified that a shortage of taxonomic expertise
is a constraint, with many regions likely to have many
species not yet described and a shortage of experts to
identify species even when descriptions exist (Batley and
Hogendoorn, 2009; Eardley et al., 2009; Freitas et al.,
2009; FAO, 2008). To address the shortage of taxonomic
expertise some institutions have developed training courses.
The American Museum of Natural History has conducted a
training course annually since 1999, training >250 people,
and while many participants are researchers some come
from non-research backgrounds (http://www.amnh.org/
our-research/invertebrate-zoology/bee-course-2014).
Similarly the Kenyan “Centre for Bee Biology and Pollination
Ecology” parataxonomy course (http://www.museums.
or.ke/content/view/153/116/), was designed to give people
without formal taxonomic training some of the skills required
to identify specimens. These programs have effectively
BOX 6.2
Māori and the management of introduced honey bees in New Zealand
Following the introduction of the honey bee (Apis mellifera
mellifera) into New Zealand in 1839 (Barrett, 1996), feral
honey bees rapidly established and spread throughout the
country (Donovan, 2007). Māori quickly recognized the value
of bees and honey in the mid-19 th Century and became New
Zealand’s first commercial honey beekeepers (Barrett, 1996;
Donovan, 2007; Gillingham 2012). The first New Zealand book
on beekeeping ‘Ko Ngā Pi’ (Treatise on bees) was published in
Māori in 1849 (Cotton, 1849). Māori also adopted the practice
of harvesting honey from feral honey bee nests (Lyver et al.,
2015). Honey harvest would often occur twice a year (Tahi and
Morunga, 2012) and feral hives were never depleted of honey
to ensure the survival of the bees and the future potential
to take honey. The relocation of swarms of feral honeybees
during the heke or ‘migration’ period was also a common
practice used to maintain access to honey (Doherty and
Tumarae-Teka, 2015). Swarms were collected in a flax woven
bag at night and moved to another site in an accessible tree
cavity where the hive could develop.
Since the mid-1950s however the practice of harvesting
honey from feral honey bee nests in the Te Urewera region by
the Tuawhenua people has been in decline and today is no
longer practiced (Doherty and Tumarae-Teka, 2015). Prior to
Use of new DNA sequencing methods provides tools that
complement and extend traditional methods of species
identification (Puillandre et al., 2012). These approaches
are rapidly becoming cheaper and are expected to become
applied much more widely in support of monitoring and
understanding pollinators.
There is an immense reserve of knowledge regarding
management for nature conservation outcomes from
indigenous and local knowledge. Many indigenous peoples
are known to value diversity for its own sake (see Chapter 5,
sections 5.3.2 and 5.3.3).
6.4.4 Pollinator management and
beekeeping
This section focus on responses associated with managed
pollinators, including beekeeping for the European honey
bee Apis mellifera as well as any other managed pollinator
1950, honey would be collected from 20 to 25 feral hives in an
area within 1 to 5 kilometre radius around homes. By the mid-
1980s the gatherers were collecting honey from 1 to 5 nests
in that same 1 to 5 km radius area, and by the late 1990s
the feral honeybee nests had largely disappeared from the
areas searched by Tuawhenua. The reason for the decline of
feral honey bees is not well understood but the simultaneous
rapid expansion of the European wasp (Vespula germanica
Fabricius) (Fordham, 1961) is thought to be a factor; these
wasps were known to consume honey bee brood and rob
nests of honey (Thomas, 1960; Mayer et al., 1987).
In recent years, Māori have returned to management practices
which facilitated within-forest pollination and production of
apicultural products from indigenous flora such as rewarewa
(Knightia excelsa) (Indigenous New Zealand, 2012), tawari (Ixerba
brexioides) and mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium). Today
beekeeping is widespread and Māori have once again developed
strong commercial links to the apiculture industry, especially bee
products which are derived from mānuka which are recognised
for its pharmaceutical purposes. Mānuka provides a highly valued
source of honey and essential oil production (Stephens et al.,
2005). The highest quality mānuka honey can provide returns of
up to NZD$80/kilogram (Lyver et al., 2015).