1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,960 CHATTER FROM NEWSROOM 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,080 'I'm Bill Turnbull. 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,680 'This summer, I set out to get to the bottom of a story 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,560 'that's captured the headlines... 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,800 '..and it's one I've got some experience of 6 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:19,400 'because I'm also a beekeeper.' 7 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:23,560 There. Is that good? Perfect. Oh, I hate squeezing them like that. 8 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:30,200 'I met some scientists doing some extraordinary experiments - 9 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,720 'putting tiny antennae onto bees.' 10 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:34,640 She's out, she's out. There she goes. 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:39,800 This is just a part of an attempt 12 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,920 to understand what's happening to our bees. 13 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:45,880 It's the biggest mystery 14 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,440 to hit the countryside in living memory. 15 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:52,080 Bees are dying in their droves and we don't know why. 16 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,360 'I'm going to be examining the evidence 17 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:58,920 'that points at three of the main suspects. 18 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,000 'First, a deadly invader that's devastating colonies.' 19 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,240 I know from bitter experience that if you see one of those in your beehive, 20 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,920 you know you're going to be in big trouble, because they can pretty much wipe out a colony 21 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,520 in a couple of months, really, can't they? Very short time, yes. Kiss of death, isn't it? 22 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:18,240 'Second - pesticides, their use is causing huge controversy. 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,800 'And finally, the changes we have made in how we farm our land. 24 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,760 'What is clear is that these extraordinary 25 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,960 'creatures are dying in their billions.' 26 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:34,640 This is a film about what's killing them. 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,200 I've been keeping bees for better or worse for 12 years now. 28 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,560 I've always found them to be beautiful, intricate creatures. 29 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:06,560 Think of this - a bee in a single day will visit several thousand flowers. 30 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,400 Its wings will beat at 200 times a second, 31 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,840 they'll fly 15 miles an hour up to four miles from the hive 32 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,520 in the search for food, and yet they'll always find their way home. 33 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,360 And this for my bees is home. 34 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,600 They don't live very long - on average just a few weeks in the summertime - 35 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:34,160 but in that time, they'll fly 400, maybe 500 miles in total. 36 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:41,520 And here's the best part, they're the only insect to provide us 37 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,320 with food, 38 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,080 in the form of liquid gold - honey. 39 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,600 But our bees are clearly in trouble. 40 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,720 'I've come to Heather Hills Farm in Perthshire 41 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,600 'to meet commercial honey producer Mark Noonan 42 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,360 'and to find out what's been happening to his bees.' 43 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,520 You've got a fair number of bees down here, haven't you? 44 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:11,680 Yes, this is one of our sites 45 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,200 just outside Blairgowrie and we've probably got about 40 hives here. 46 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,240 They've been here for about three or four weeks. 47 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,720 'It's June and Mark is lending his bees 48 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,000 'to a local farmer to pollinate hundreds of acres of raspberries.' 49 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,040 So what is the deal between you and the farmer, then, here? 50 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,480 Well, it's a natural symbiosis where he knows that 51 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,760 if our bees pollinate his fruit, he'll get a lot more fruit. 52 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,360 He'll get a better quality of fruit and we get 53 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,440 the nectar from the raspberries, which makes a fantastic honey. 54 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,320 'It's a deal that works well for the bees and for the farmer.' 55 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,000 So these have been in full flower the last two or three weeks. 56 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,400 As you can see, the fruit has started to form already. 57 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,480 It's looking really healthy, there's nice shape to the berries there. 58 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:07,000 And that's going to produce tonnes of raspberries. 59 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,240 'But all is not well at Heather Hills Farm. 60 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:16,480 'Mark's bees are dying and he has the empty hives to prove it.' 61 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:19,000 So you've had a tough year? 62 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:25,080 We have, Bill, yeah, it's been an incredibly bad winter 63 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,480 and that's compounded with probably the worst summer 64 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,200 we've ever had as well last year. Right. 65 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,720 So these boxes should all be out, full of bees working? 66 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,440 Yeah, they've been brought back from the fields 67 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,360 because the bees didn't survive the winter, which went right on to May. 68 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,000 It must have been devastating. 69 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,440 It was very depressing, yeah. 70 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,120 We reckon we lost 300 or 400 hives just this last winter. 71 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,120 And we've had five bad years in a row. 72 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:58,000 So Heather Hills should have 1,300 hives in operation 73 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,880 at this time of year, and we've got less than half of that. 74 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,320 And that's pretty common throughout not just Scotland 75 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:07,960 but the whole of the UK. 76 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,240 I've heard stories of someone losing 96%. Right. 77 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:11,720 BUZZING 78 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,840 And one less bee there! It just flew in my ear. 79 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:17,080 So a very difficult position for you. 80 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,200 What are you going to do to survive? 81 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,480 Come and have a look. Here we have some imported bees, 82 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:26,800 just arrived this morning all the way from Italy. 83 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,200 They've probably been on the road for two or three days, I would have said. 84 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,160 I would think they're pretty fed up by now, aren't they? 85 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,000 'Seeing this really brings home to me 86 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,000 'the problem that we have with bees here. 87 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,720 'Mark's loss is an all-too-familiar story that's being 88 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:49,360 'replicated around Britain. 89 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:53,720 'Today I'm going to help him 90 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,480 'put a hundred thousand newly arrived bees into his hives.' 91 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,080 That's it. In you go, girls. That's it. 92 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,920 I don't like banging them around, but I suppose it has to be done. 93 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,080 It has to be done and that's a kilo and a half of bees. 94 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,040 Will they be all right in there? Yeah, yeah. 95 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,360 'Mark puts the losses on his farm down to the bad summers 96 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:28,960 'we've had in recent years.' 97 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,920 The thing is, bees are very sensitive to the weather. If the temperature falls 98 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,760 below 14 degrees or if it rains, they just won't leave the hive. 99 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,000 The nectar output of flowers is also temperature-dependent, 100 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,600 so if it's colder, there will be less nectar and therefore less food. 101 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,080 And if the weather's bad 102 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,200 when new virgin queens go on their mating flight, it can mean 103 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:56,280 poor fertilisation and a weaker colony which may eventually die out. 104 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:59,560 Add all these factors together and a bad summer can mean 105 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,360 the bees will fail to survive a mild winter, let alone a harsh one. 106 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,080 'The number of honeybee hives in England alone 107 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,680 'fell by around about 50% between 1985 and 2005. 108 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:17,240 'Different studies indicate a decline in total bee numbers 109 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,240 'over the past 50 to 80 years. 110 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,240 'So in terms of the weather on its own, it clearly doesn't 111 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,880 'explain what's killing our bees - there have to be other factors.' 112 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,560 CHATTER IN NEWSROOM 113 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,560 'My colleagues at BBC Breakfast think I'm a bit obsessed. 114 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,200 'But I want to give them a sense of what could happen 115 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:48,800 'if we keep losing our bees. 116 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,400 'It's Monday morning and the Breakfast crew have been up 117 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:57,600 'since before dawn. 118 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:06,480 'This is our normal breakfast, but not today.' 119 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,240 Right, chaps, here comes breakfast. 120 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,240 'Today they're going to be offered a menu 121 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,680 'which only includes food that doesn't need bees to produce it.' 122 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,920 Right, help yourselves, tuck in. 123 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,200 No butter. No butter. 124 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,360 Dry toast. I feel like I'm in prison. 125 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,440 Mmm. Thank you. 126 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,000 No milk with my tea? No milk. No milk. 127 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:38,000 You may be wondering what else there is. Do you want to know what else there is? 128 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,200 Go on. Nothing. That's your lot. 129 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,880 'All they have to choose from this morning is brown bread, 130 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,880 'white bread and black tea.' 131 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:47,280 We just want some fruit. 132 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:49,960 No fruit. There's no fruit available today. 133 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:54,240 Could I have some tomatoes on my toast? Tomatoes, no. No, absolutely no tomatoes. 134 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,640 It's a fruit pollinated by bees. 135 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:57,720 Like it? Are you enjoying your meal? 136 00:08:57,720 --> 00:08:58,760 LAUGHTER 137 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,960 Not really. No. 138 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,400 It's a little bit dry, Bill. OK. Bit bland. 139 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:06,280 You may know, I've been looking into, er, 140 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,200 the disappearance of our bees and what's been going wrong, 141 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,680 and I thought I'd have a... an experiment to see what the impact 142 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:16,960 would be on our lives if there were no honeybees here in Britain. 143 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,320 And this is the result. 144 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:24,360 So, without bees, not much pollination goes on, 145 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,600 so that's all that you're left with. 146 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,760 But to make up for it, here's the breakfast that you can have 147 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,400 while we've still got honeybees. CHEERING 148 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,240 So tuck in. That's good. 149 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,480 'To be honest, this is a bit of a treat - it's not what they're used to. 150 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,360 'Take away bees and you risk losing this. 151 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,400 'Most fruit, but not bananas and pineapples. 152 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:53,520 'And most vegetables, along with protein-rich beans. 153 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,240 'And because most animal feed is made from plants pollinated by bees, 154 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:01,160 'it means meats and dairy products could also become more scarce.' 155 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,320 So, we really do need to save the bees if, er, 156 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:08,680 we want to have breakfasts like this. 157 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:11,720 'It does give you a sense of just how important bees are. 158 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,960 'I want to track down the most ground-breaking research 159 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,360 'into what's killing our bees in such numbers. 160 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,920 'I'm starting at a rather special place. 161 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,200 'Rothamsted Research - they've been studying bees here for 90 years 162 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:39,200 'and they've recently invented some rather ingenious ways of observing them. 163 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,280 'I'm here to look at the first suspect in our mystery... 164 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:45,320 '..the varroa mite.' 165 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:49,880 This tiny parasite has led to the spread of some of the most 166 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,880 contagious and widely distributed viruses on the planet, 167 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:58,920 killing billions of bees and truly earning its name - Varroa destructor. 168 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,160 It can be utterly devastating. 169 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,760 'The first step is to try to really understand the enemy.' 170 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:09,520 Poor little bee. 171 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,360 So, Jean, where is it on this bee there? 172 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,640 OK, I think if you look, even with a naked eye, just to this side 173 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:19,840 of the abdomen. 174 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,120 Yes, oh, on the belly there? That brick-red-coloured... OK. 175 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:31,160 Gosh, it looks like it is carrying a football on its stomach, isn't it? 176 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,280 It's huge. It's at least two millimetres across. 177 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,400 So they hang on there and they sort of feed on the... 178 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,800 Puncture the soft tissue and then start... 179 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,640 Feeding on the bodily fluids. That's right. 180 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,080 I know, from bitter experience, 181 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:48,720 when you find one of those, you're going to be in big trouble, 182 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,800 cos they can pretty much wipe out a colony in a couple of months, really, can't they? 183 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:54,960 Very short time, yes. Kiss of death, isn't it? 184 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,080 'Jean Devonshire uses one of the most powerful instruments 185 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,400 'in her lab - a scanning electron microscope. 186 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,240 'She freezes the bee with liquid nitrogen, 187 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,680 'then coats it with an ultra-fine layer of conductive gold. 188 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,960 'Now we can view every tiny detail of our enemy.' 189 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:25,080 What we're looking at now in the centre of the image there 190 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:31,960 is the actual varroa, and if I focus it finer, 191 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,840 we can see the hairs on the body obviously very easily there. 192 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,800 You can see these sternal plates and the varroa sitting in the centre. 193 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,960 And the head is digging in there, so it's feeding now? 194 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,040 It's probably... It's probably... Yeah. 195 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:51,040 The varroa knows that if it slides itself underneath these plates, 196 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,240 it can actually puncture the soft tissue parts. 197 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:02,520 'The varroa mite arrived in the UK in 1992. Its spread has generally 198 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:06,520 'been linked to infected bees being imported around the world. 199 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,680 'And our bees had no resistance.' 200 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:14,040 Once it's finished munching, it leaves these open sores, which then 201 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:18,680 leaves the bee open to infection, so it's a clever little fiend, isn't it? 202 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:20,760 It is. 203 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,360 'Thankfully, the mite on its own can be treated. 204 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,440 'But when you look more closely, you can see what could be 205 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:28,320 'the real culprit... 206 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:32,280 '..a virus.' 207 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,360 Here are the virus particles. 208 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:41,720 We're looking at this at about 40,000 times magnification. 209 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,200 Obviously there will be a lot of them in their body, 210 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,280 which will eventually cause their demise. 211 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,200 'And this is the sort of thing they can do. 212 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,040 'This bee is suffering from deformed wing virus. 213 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,760 'You can see pretty easily what's happened to it. 214 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,560 'But what makes the varroa mite so sinister 215 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:06,920 'is that it can cause something much more difficult to spot.' 216 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:13,560 The viruses carried by varroa mites 217 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:16,160 can have all-too-obvious, devastating effects 218 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,720 but, in reality, these are only seen in extreme cases. 219 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,520 And what worries researchers now is that these may be just 220 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:27,360 a tiny minority of all infections and that many more bees, 221 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,480 apparently healthy, may be affected by them 222 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,640 in less visible ways, which are just as devastating for the colony. 223 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,840 'What they're trying to find out here is what happens 224 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:43,120 'to these infected bees once they leave the hive. 225 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,680 'To do that, they've invented something pretty remarkable.' 226 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:54,920 Jason, it looks like we have some kind of 227 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:56,880 military espionage station here. What is it? 228 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,800 Well, this is a specially designed radar that we developed that 229 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,760 allows us to track the flight paths of bees once they leave their hive. 230 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:05,760 You can very easily study what happens 231 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:07,960 when the bees come back to the hive and leave 232 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,640 but what happened when they were on their foraging flights 233 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,320 at some distance away was always a great challenge to study 234 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,200 and it wasn't until we developed a system such as this radar 235 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,120 that we were able to accurately track their flight paths 236 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:23,840 over distances of hundreds of metres, even up to a kilometre or so. 237 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,240 How does it work, then? There are millions of insects out there 238 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,280 in the area that you're sweeping, but you target specific individuals? 239 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,760 That's right, and so we have an individual honeybee 240 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,840 which will be carrying this very small, fine antenna on its back 241 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,280 and as the wavelength of the emitted radar beam hits that, 242 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:45,400 the little diode in the centre converts the incoming signal 243 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,840 to a unique signal which is half of the wavelength 244 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,840 and so we can listen to that signal with a special receiver dish, 245 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:54,920 and therefore just track the individual insect 246 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,040 without it being swamped by echo. 247 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,360 That is almost as long as a bee itself. 248 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,400 Isn't it a bit too big for it? 249 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,920 Honeybees have evolved over millions of years to carry heavy loads. 250 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,720 They can carry pollen loads almost half their body weight 251 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,160 and this tag only weighs about a tenth of the body weight 252 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,680 so it's very easy for them to carry that weight 253 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,800 and it doesn't affect their behaviour in any way. 254 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,280 'But for me, seeing is believing. 255 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,760 'The man at the other end of the experiment is Dr Stephan Wolf.' 256 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,240 So, here we have the bee. Yes. She can't get through there, can she? 257 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,040 She can, but... OK. ..you know. 258 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,040 It's just trial... We'll be here all day! 259 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,760 There! Yeah. Is that good? Perfect, wonderful. OK. 260 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:37,800 I just...hate squeezing them like that. 261 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,640 Hold the transponder at the white bit. 262 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,960 At the white bit? Yes. At the bottom, OK. 263 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,040 OK, and just stick it on there, really lightly. 264 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,680 Like that? There we are. And down she goes, go on. 265 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:51,960 It's a bit like running round 266 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,600 with broomsticks on the back of your head, isn't it? Perhaps. 267 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,400 'This technology has already revealed some of the secrets 268 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:01,920 'of the life of a bee. 269 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,160 'In particular, one of the great mysteries about these creatures - 270 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,960 'how, when they first leave the hive, 271 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,600 'they manage to find their way out and their way back, 272 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,920 'visiting up to 2,000 flowers in a day, without getting lost.' 273 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,400 She's in a landscape that she's never seen before 274 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,920 so she starts with very small loops in the beginning around the hive, 275 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,120 and then extends these loops ever further in order to build up 276 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:29,960 a memory of the landscape that will enable her to get back to the hive. 277 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:38,080 And here it is, the flight of the humble bee. 278 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,920 This is what's called its exploratory path, 279 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,000 the route it takes as it circles around the hive for the first time. 280 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,640 Over several days it builds up a mental map 281 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,240 of more than ten square kilometres around the hive. 282 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,800 The radar allows us to see this with unprecedented precision. 283 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:06,720 What's been found is that their orientation flight 284 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,560 is very, very efficient, to explore the biggest area 285 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:11,360 with the shortest time effort 286 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:13,840 and the shortest energy effort, obviously. 287 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,000 'I'm here to see Stephan's latest experiment. 288 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:24,000 'He wants to find out if the viruses carried by the varroa mite 289 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:28,080 'will affect how the bees fly. And that's important, 290 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,320 'because if they can't navigate properly, some of them will die.' 291 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:35,760 So, what we have, we have a colony in here, 292 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,400 and in that colony live bees which have various levels of diseases. 293 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,680 These bees have only lived in that cage. 294 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,280 They don't know the landscape around. 295 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,440 'The bees here are all healthy enough to fly. The question is, 296 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:52,200 'does the virus affect their exploratory flight?' 297 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,680 So, here you have a not-quite-so-willing volunteer. 298 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:02,000 Nearly dropped her there! OK, Jason. The bee's equipped. Have a look. 299 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,600 JASON ON RADIO: Oh, yeah. There. Here she goes. 300 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,960 OK, Jason. She's out, she's out. Warming up a bit. 301 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:14,560 There she goes. 302 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:16,800 OK, she's off, she's off, Jason. 303 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,840 OK, bee is flying, the one bee is flying. 304 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,080 Flying away from the cage. 305 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:23,400 She's out there somewhere. 306 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:25,480 You definitely saw her taking off, did you? Yes. 307 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:29,200 Bee's making a loop. Er, bee stopped, bee stopped. 308 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,040 'As bee number one goes to ground for a while, 309 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,560 'it's my chance to head for the radar station across the field.' 310 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,400 Hi, Jason. Hello. How's it going? Yep, fine. Right. 311 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:42,160 'To the bottom left of the screen, a red spot marks the position 312 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,640 'of the hive just over 200 metres from the radar.' 313 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:46,840 300 metres away, now. 314 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,120 'And each time the radar sweeps past, 315 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,040 'a white mark reveals the position of the bee.' 316 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:57,840 OK, bee is coming back, the white bee is coming back. 317 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,560 'The radar records each successive loop the bee makes, 318 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,560 'until she returns safely to the hive.' 319 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:06,880 The bee is at hive, the bee is at hive, Stephan. 320 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,360 So, now the bee's come back to the hive? Yes, exactly. Yes. 321 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,800 'Over the summer, Stephan and his colleagues 322 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,040 'will be trying to find out if the virus 323 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,840 'DOES affect the bees' flight. We'll have to wait for those results. 324 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,720 'But this system, which allows us to track bees 325 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:31,760 'in a way we've never done before, 326 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,200 'should provide some important clues.' 327 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,360 We can test for whether the flights are close to an optimal flight or not. 328 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:45,560 This is what we want to show with this experiment, 329 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,200 whether the diseases actually do change one 330 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:50,920 or all of these aspects, or perhaps none. 331 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,520 What we do know about the varroa mite then, 332 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,560 is that it has killed billions of bees. 333 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:00,840 We know it does spread viruses 334 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,560 but we don't yet know what the full effect of those viruses may be. 335 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,880 'But I don't think this is the whole picture...not yet.' 336 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,120 Professor Simon Potts has brought me 337 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:25,560 to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History... 338 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:31,040 ..to show me one of the biggest collections of bees in the UK. 339 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:34,720 Some of these don't look like bees... 340 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,200 well, like the bees that we would expect. No, exactly. 341 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,800 So it's because they're incredibly diverse in what they do. 342 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,240 Here's a really good example of how big a variety you get. 343 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:45,720 We actually have 250 species, 344 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,080 which many people will be surprised about. 345 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,440 Some people will see honeybees in the garden, 346 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:54,120 maybe the occasional bumblebee, but actually there's 250 to look at. 347 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,880 Some of these look terribly small, almost as if they're mosquitoes. 348 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:01,160 Yeah, they could do, 349 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:03,760 but as you get to see them they've got two pairs of wings 350 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:08,080 and actually they are proper bees. How do you define "bee", then? 351 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,240 So, er... BILL LAUGHS 352 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:14,120 Well, essentially it's a hymenoptera 353 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:16,560 so it has a small, pinched waist that you can see. 354 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,200 All of these bees have that. They're always very particular 355 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,000 about their figure, bees, aren't they? They have a waist. Yes. 356 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,920 They do a lot of flying around, burning off a lot of calories. 357 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,320 And they go out and they collect pollen and nectar 358 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:28,760 so they're vegetarian 359 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,200 whereas their kind of close relatives, the wasps, 360 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,160 they're very often carnivorous. 361 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,360 And when it comes to crop pollination, 362 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,080 these are the unsung heroes of the pollination world. 363 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,920 Honeybees DO make a contribution but actually it's the wild bees 364 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:42,960 particularly that are doing most of the work. 365 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,120 So for instance, in the UK, think about the huge areas of oil seed 366 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:49,240 and beans and apple crops and also all the soft fruits we have. 367 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,240 We've only got enough honeybees 368 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:55,360 to pollinate an absolute maximum, a third. So, who does the rest? 369 00:22:55,360 --> 00:22:58,200 It's these guys. They work so hard to ensure that we get 370 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,440 everything pollinated. Not just crops, but all our wild flowers. 371 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:06,320 Do these bees suffer from varroa? They don't suffer from varroa 372 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,440 but these guys are in real trouble as well. 373 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:09,960 It seems what you're saying is 374 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,440 even if we sorted out the varroa problem... Mm-hmm? 375 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,480 ..we'd still have a major issue on our hands? Absolutely. 376 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,600 The honeybee and hundreds of other species, are all in decline. 377 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,760 But those other species don't suffer from the varroa mite. 378 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,880 There's no doubt that varroa is lethal. 379 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,560 As it's spread across the globe over the past 50 years, 380 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:50,600 it's resulted in the death of billions of honeybees. 381 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,040 In some countries, including the United States, 382 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,080 it's been linked to the disappearance of entire colonies - 383 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,120 what they call colony collapse disorder. 384 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:00,960 Here in Britain, though, it's a rather different story. 385 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:05,040 For a start, varroa only affects honeybees, not wild bees, 386 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:08,440 and they've been in decline here as well for some time. 387 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,520 And crucially, it only arrived here about 20 years ago 388 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,920 and we know our bees have been dying off for much longer than that. 389 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,480 So, while it's true that varroa has put an added strain 390 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,400 on the honeybees, the evidence would indicate 391 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,480 that it's not responsible for the whole problem. 392 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:34,080 Our second suspect, pesticides, are the most controversial. 393 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,200 This year, the European Commission announced the two-year ban 394 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,440 on the use of certain pesticides called neonicotinoids. 395 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,680 They said the evidence now showed that they were 396 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:52,200 an unacceptable danger to bees feeding on flowering crops. 397 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:01,280 And THIS is what's generating more heat than anything else - 398 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,200 neonicotinoid pesticides. 399 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,800 Often, they come coated on the seeds, like on this rape seed, 400 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,240 so that as the plant grows, 401 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,080 the chemical spreads throughout the organism through the roots, 402 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,520 the leaves, the flowers, even to the nectar and the pollen. 403 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,360 Now one of the terms scientists use to measure just how lethal 404 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:24,600 these things are is called "LD50" - the dose that is lethal to 50%, 405 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,520 half of the test subjects. 406 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,200 And the lethal dose for a bee 407 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,560 is just four billionths of a gram, 408 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,000 which raises an important question, 409 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,960 just what are these things doing to our bees? 410 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:43,320 Neonicotinoids are nerve agents, and they only affect insects. 411 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,800 They were introduced in the 1990s to replace more harmful pesticides. 412 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:49,640 When used properly, 413 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,360 they cause deadly paralysis in small pests like aphids. 414 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:55,720 But if they do that to aphids... 415 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:58,960 ..what's the effect on the bees? 416 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,560 There's a scientist in Germany investigating just that. 417 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,480 40 years of research have made Professor Randolf Menzel 418 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,920 a global authority on the nervous system of bees. 419 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,120 One thing that's excited him for many years 420 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,520 is just how advanced their communication is. 421 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,720 Especially their famous waggle dance. 422 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,640 Returning from a foraging trip, this bee is telling its co-workers 423 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,720 precisely where she found her pollen. 424 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:47,120 They just use the body to, uh, 425 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:50,360 inform the others about any important place 426 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:51,760 out in the field - 427 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,040 a wonderful flower or a pollen place. 428 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,080 As she circles, the bee repeatedly waggles 429 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:03,360 during one phase of her dance. Here, walking straight upwards. 430 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:11,440 It is this phase which codes the direction relative to the sun 431 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,000 and the distance. 432 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,600 Walking upwards while she waggles, tells the other bees 433 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,440 to head towards the sun. 434 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,400 The number of times she moves from side to side, 435 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,120 tells them how far to fly. 436 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:31,200 The brain controlling this sort of behaviour 437 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,240 is clearly rather sophisticated. 438 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,440 This kind of cognitive processing requires the highest order 439 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,360 of neural processing in this little brain. 440 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:45,840 That means anything which is disturbing 441 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:50,680 on these fine network processes should have a high impact. 442 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,520 With the radar technology, Randolf and his team have been investigating 443 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:08,040 whether neonicotinoids could affect bees' brains. 444 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:15,880 They're testing their ability to find their way home after feeding. 445 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:18,720 This is our feeding place. 446 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,600 That means bees have been trained from the hive, 447 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,480 and we train them step-wise to this location. 448 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:31,920 We catch it in the moment it arrives here, put it into a container 449 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:38,520 like this which con...contains 50 microlitres of sugar solution. 450 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,800 The bees are fed one of two different solutions. 451 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,400 We have groups which are fed with the pesticide 452 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,880 delivered in the sugar solution, 453 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,680 and other groups which are not fed with the pesticide. 454 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:57,120 And we compare them. 455 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,160 The bees have made many trips to the feeding station. 456 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,600 And that means they know how to fly in a straight line 457 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:05,480 between here and the hive. 458 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:10,160 They do this on auto-pilot, using what's known as their vector memory. 459 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,760 So, when she is ready, uh, to take off, 460 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,320 she will just fly back to the hive using her vector memory. 461 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,680 That's all that she would do. 462 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,360 And she expect the hive in 500 metres in the northwest. 463 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,800 But today, Randolf is setting out to confuse the bees a bit. 464 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,080 He's going to take them several hundred metres away from 465 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,320 the place where they normally feed. 466 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,440 And then track their attempts to get back to the hive. 467 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:43,520 OK, we are at release site now. 468 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,560 So, let's say that this is the release site. 469 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,200 The feeding station was over there 470 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,880 and this is the hive in this direction. 471 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,640 So, let's say this is the feeding station, this is the hive, 472 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,680 and they have learnt to fly along this vector over 500 metres. 473 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,120 Now, we release them here. 474 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:06,560 Which means they use their memory for the vector 475 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,040 and that means they fly along this route. 476 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,960 But when they arrive there, there is no hive. 477 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:16,760 So, the question is, if the animal's released here, 478 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:17,960 how do they find home, 479 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,800 and what is the effect of pesticides on this behaviour? 480 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,880 First, he releases a control bee that hasn't been fed the pesticide. 481 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:36,120 As the bee tries to find her way home, she's tracked by the radar. 482 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,040 She flies on auto-pilot 500 metres northwest. 483 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,600 She gets to where she thinks the hive should be... 484 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:49,240 but because it's not there, 485 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,280 she has to use a different navigation system to find it. 486 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,160 One that uses landmarks in the countryside to find her way home. 487 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,280 So, she is... is still flying towards the hive? 488 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,840 Yeah, she's landing there now. OK, she has arrived already. 489 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:08,960 I think she's already here. OK, she is already there. 490 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:15,960 Before she can disappear into the hive, 491 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,040 our radar bee is intercepted 492 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:19,920 and the antenna is removed. 493 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,240 Next is a bee that HAS been fed on the pesticide. 494 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,640 It quickly becomes apparent that something is up. 495 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,280 So that means she comes back. She turns back towards north. 496 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,800 Rather than heading straight home, 497 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:52,560 she starts to make a series of 498 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,320 erratic changes of course. 499 00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:58,920 West. OK. 500 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,520 Where is she now? 501 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,640 So she is flying further north. 502 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,600 After a few minutes, the bee appears to be completely lost. 503 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,800 She's cruising around us, undecided which direction to fly. 504 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,920 She has not done what we expected of her to do, 505 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,400 to fly along the vector direction, 506 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,600 which would have meant that she would fly exactly in this direction. 507 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:33,280 Over two years of study, Randolf's shown that, at these doses, 508 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:36,960 neonicotinoids DO affect bees' higher cognitive processes. 509 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,040 Especially their memory of the landscape around them. 510 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:45,520 We've tested about 200 bees, both control bees and, uh, 511 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:47,280 pesticide treated bees. 512 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,480 And we found the control bees are just fantastic. 513 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:50,920 They find home quickly, 514 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,760 they use the vector and the landscape memory and they do fine. 515 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,280 Now, the treated bees, depending on doses and substance, 516 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,680 we find that they are kind of more confused. 517 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,360 They usually do quite well when they fly along the vector, 518 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,240 but when they need to refer to the landscape memory, 519 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:09,960 then usually they are lost. 520 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,720 They change their behaviour in a very strong way. And so that simply 521 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:21,320 means to me, that neonicotinoids ARE endangering honeybees. 522 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:28,760 It's work like this that lies behind the European Commission ban. 523 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,760 But one thing I've learned in this detective story, 524 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:36,400 is that it's all too easy to jump to conclusions. 525 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,680 Despite this research, though, 526 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,040 neonicotinoids are still at the centre of a HUGE controversy. 527 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:54,600 The UK Government did not support the EC ban on neonicotinoids, 528 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,120 it said there wasn't enough evidence to justify it. 529 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,720 Let's find ways of how farming can co-exist with nature. 530 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:05,000 This is what we're talking about. 531 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,320 'As a beekeeper and journalist, it's a debate I've followed very closely. 532 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:12,560 'Tonight, the British Library 533 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:15,160 'has asked me to host a discussion on the subject.' 534 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,040 We are facing a difficult situation 535 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,120 with bees and other pollinators in Britain, at the moment. 536 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:23,720 'The argument in favour of a ban was made by one of the scientists 537 00:34:23,720 --> 00:34:25,240 'on the panel.' 538 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,480 There are these pieces of evidence which show really serious impacts 539 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,520 from levels of neonicotinoids that bees, 540 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:37,120 wild bees could be exposed to in the wider environment. 541 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,720 'And the argument against the ban was laid out 542 00:34:40,720 --> 00:34:42,960 'by one of the pesticide manufacturers.' 543 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,080 These trials show that there is no risk to, to pollinators from 544 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,360 those products when they're used correctly in the environment. 545 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:52,520 'There was a lot of concern in the audience.' 546 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:56,640 I'm very worried I still can go into my local supermarket 547 00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:02,320 and buy litres of garden spray which contain various neonicotinoids. 548 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:05,160 'It's clear to me 549 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,520 'that even though many of the people here tonight 550 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:11,280 'had differing opinions, there is a hunger for clarity.' 551 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,120 So I'm heading back to Rothamsted... 552 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,280 ..where there is another group of scientists looking at pesticides 553 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,560 from a completely DIFFERENT angle. 554 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,440 'These dimly lit red corridors are the first line of defence 555 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,400 'against a very dangerous collection of insects.' 556 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:39,720 Why the red light? 557 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:43,440 Insects don't really see red light, so to them this corridor is dark, 558 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:44,840 which means 559 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,040 they're not going to fly out here. It's just additional security. 560 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:49,520 The rooms are sealed anyway... 561 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:51,480 'Professor Lin Field wants to show me 562 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,200 'how we underestimate the value of insecticides.' 563 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,160 This room here. 564 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:57,280 So what have we got here? 565 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,560 OK. So this is actually a Chinese cabbage plant, 566 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:04,080 and this is a plant that we've only just introduced the pest to, 567 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,000 and this is one that's been in the cage with the pests 568 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,920 for maybe a week, and you can see there's very little left. 569 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:17,720 And with most of the crops we grow, somewhere between 30-40% 570 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:19,720 would be lost to pests and diseases 571 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:21,760 if we made no effort to control them. 572 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:27,440 So in your view, we really need these pesticides? 573 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:28,640 In my view at the moment. 574 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:30,720 I think there are some alternatives 575 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:34,880 but most of our crop protection does rely on modern chemistry, 576 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,400 which are very effective insecticides, 577 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,280 very safe, very low mammalian toxicity, 578 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:44,080 and they play a big role in our food production systems. 579 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:52,240 Lin's recently become Rothamsted's spokesperson 580 00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:54,040 in the neonicotinoid debate 581 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:00,560 The big advantage of neonicotinoids, 582 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:02,880 is that you can plant the seed already treated. 583 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,720 It means the farmer doesn't have to spray. 584 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:08,280 If you've got to spray, that's expensive, 585 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:11,520 it's got a high carbon input, you have a risk of drift, 586 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,200 you have to wait for the right weather conditions, 587 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,240 whereas if the plant is protected by the chemistry 588 00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:20,760 coming up as it grows, you avoid all of those steps 589 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,560 From the farmer's point of view, it's really useful. 590 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:25,600 It is VERY useful. 591 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,200 You'll be familiar with Professor Menzel's work in Germany, 592 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,040 where he's shown that neonicotinoids can have 593 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:34,080 an effect on the bees' navigational ability. 594 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,520 And that may explain why we've been losing so many bees. 595 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:37,760 It might explain it 596 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,160 and I'm not in any way questioning his data. 597 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:41,480 I think at certain levels 598 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,760 they will have sub-lethal behavioural effects. 599 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:45,880 Whether the amount that bees pick up 600 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,800 by foraging in crops that are treated with neonics 601 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,960 are at the same level to give that effect, I don't know, 602 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,080 and I don't think that's been shown. 603 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,000 Why have some of them been banned by the EU? 604 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:57,560 In my view the lobbying - 605 00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:02,120 that went along with the fact that neonicotinoids were suspected - 606 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:05,120 was so strong that, in the end, they got banned 607 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:08,400 on a precautionary principle, on a just-in-case principle. 608 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,600 A lot of people are looking for clear and simple answers as to 609 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:25,080 whether neonicotinoids are to blame 610 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,520 but the way that creatures as sensitive as bees interact 611 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:31,360 with their changing environment is a complex one. 612 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:32,920 For instance in France, 613 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,600 neonicotinoids were banned for a decade 614 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:37,440 and yet the decline continued, 615 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:41,920 whereas in Australia the pesticides are still widely used 616 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:46,240 and the bees remain generally healthy. It just is complex. 617 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:49,200 For me the most important question here in Britain, 618 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:51,480 is about dose 619 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:54,760 and the effects that neonics are having at low levels, 620 00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:57,560 the sort of levels you'll find in the countryside. 621 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:06,240 That's why I'm heading to East Sussex. 622 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:11,560 'I've heard about an experiment happening right now, to establish 623 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:15,240 'how much pesticide bees are really getting in the wild. 624 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:20,320 'So I'm joining Professor Dave Goulson and his team, 625 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:21,920 'to find out how they're going to do it.' 626 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:27,840 The dispute largely focuses on the fact 627 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:31,160 that pretty much all the experiments done today have... 628 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,160 exposed the bees to the pesticides in an unnatural way. 629 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:39,200 And what we really don't know is actually what wild bees, natural, 630 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,240 free-flying bees are actually exposed to. 631 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:43,240 Cos obviously in the real world, 632 00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:46,080 they have a choice about where they can forage. 633 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,280 There are lots of different flowers around. 634 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,000 They might, for example, avoid ones with pesticides in them. 635 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,480 If they did, then that would mean that, actually, 636 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:55,320 they might be exposed to less than we think. 637 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:00,120 'To find out how much pesticide wild bees are really exposed to, 638 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:04,560 'he's set up a series of bumblebee nests in fields around East Sussex. 639 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,400 'Each started with just a handful of bees. 640 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,760 'Three weeks later, they're flourishing - new colonies, 641 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:16,640 'packed with nectar and pollen 642 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:19,200 'collected from the surrounding fields.' 643 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,240 I'm always told bumblebee stings are more painful than regular bees, 644 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:23,480 is that right? I don't know. 645 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,560 I don't think there's much in it, they're both... They both hurt. 646 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:29,280 So what we need to do is get a pollen sample 647 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:31,600 and a nectar sample and a sample of the wax. 648 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:33,480 And then, when we've got all the samples in, 649 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,240 we're going to analyse them all 650 00:40:35,240 --> 00:40:37,480 to detect these tiny traces of pesticides. 651 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,000 'The bees will have this all patched up in a day or two. 652 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,040 'The team will collect samples every few weeks. 653 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:49,680 'But this will give them the first 654 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:52,920 'REAL measure of the dose that wild bees are getting. 655 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:55,920 'They've chosen to study bumblebees for good reason: 656 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:58,200 'because each colony lives for just one year.' 657 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:05,720 So the nest is founded by a queen in the spring and she rears up 658 00:41:05,720 --> 00:41:08,800 her worker daughters to start with. And then, after about three months, 659 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:14,200 the nest produces males and new queens and the nest dies off. 660 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:16,720 So that discrete life cycle, uh, actually enables us 661 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:19,560 to do an experiment in just a few months and measure 662 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,400 the effects of pesticides on the colony performance. 663 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:26,960 'As well as analysing samples, 664 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,680 'they're going to measure the growth of each colony.' 665 00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:36,280 So that's 674 grams. 666 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:43,840 'They have 40 boxes in East Sussex. 667 00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:46,120 'And another 40 in Scotland. 668 00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:52,840 'Dave will be able to compare the growth rates of each colony 669 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,240 'with the levels of pesticide measured in them. 670 00:41:55,240 --> 00:41:58,120 'It'll be September before the results are analysed.' 671 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,520 We know the levels that are found in oilseed rape crops. 672 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,640 It's between about one and six or seven parts per billion. 673 00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:20,720 What we don't know is where else 674 00:42:20,720 --> 00:42:23,800 these pesticides are in the environment. 675 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:26,880 One of the kind of concerns is that they can last for years 676 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:28,960 in soil. And then, subsequently, 677 00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:31,040 if flowers, wildflowers for example, 678 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:36,680 grow in that field. So, um, poppies, in the field just here - 679 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:38,120 that had a wheat crop in it last year 680 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:39,800 that was treated with pesticides, 681 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:43,520 so it seems quite likely that there'll be small amounts of 682 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:46,040 neonicotinoids in the pollen and nectar of this poppy as well. 683 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,320 So is banning neonics a good idea? 684 00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:50,520 I think that the moratorium 685 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:53,200 that's just about to come into place is better than nothing. 686 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,000 But even if we stopped using them completely right now, 687 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,440 it would be years before they're gone from the environment. 688 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,040 So two years is not enough to detect any kind of benefit 689 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:02,920 to the environment from stopping using them. 690 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,760 So it's very unclear how we'll decide what to do 691 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,280 in two years' time and really, um, 692 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:13,440 we've just kind of deferred the decision, as far as I can see. 693 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:24,240 'This is one of the most important experiments taking place. 694 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:27,520 'The one that could help us understand the degree 695 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:31,680 'to which research done so far is relevant to bees in the wild.' 696 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:39,880 So what do we know so far? 697 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:46,960 There's a good argument for saying that disease and mite infestation 698 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,280 could be playing a bigger role than we'd previously thought. 699 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:55,120 The image there is the actual varroa... 700 00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:59,280 Meanwhile, the results of Professor Menzel's experiments with pesticides 701 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:01,040 would appear to be persuasive, 702 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:03,640 but we'll have to wait for more evidence from the work 703 00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:06,920 of people like Dave Goulson and his bumblebees before we can make 704 00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:10,160 a convincing case about the effect of neonicotinoids. 705 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:17,680 And then you have to think about the effects that banning 706 00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:21,240 pesticides could have on agriculture and the cost of food production. 707 00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:23,560 It could end up doing more harm than good. 708 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:29,720 With so many potential suspects, it's no wonder 709 00:44:29,720 --> 00:44:33,600 there's so much debate and confusion amongst the scientific community. 710 00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:36,200 And just as we think we're getting to the big picture, 711 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:38,840 we've come across another entirely different 712 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:40,640 scientific angle on the story, 713 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:43,480 which raises the rather troubling question 714 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,440 as to whether we've missed the real issue altogether. 715 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:54,640 There are some bees which are doing surprisingly well. 716 00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:59,040 In places you might not expect. 717 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:04,880 If we can work out why these city bees are doing well, 718 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:07,040 it might give us the clues as to what's happening 719 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,000 to the rest of the bee population. 720 00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:18,400 Steve Benbow is an urban beekeeper, and his bees seem to be doing OK. 721 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:22,680 Now, that's pretty lovely. 722 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:28,200 He puts that down to his honeybees' rather unusual habitat. 723 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,040 We're on the roof of Tate Britain here 724 00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:37,080 and these are some of the bees that I look after for the Tate. 725 00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:39,320 I have to say, and congratulate you, 726 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:42,400 on having really very, very polite and friendly bees. 727 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,320 Here we are, standing in front of the hives 728 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:45,960 and they're just floating around. 729 00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:48,800 I've never been able to do this with anybody else's bees. 730 00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:50,920 Oh, good. No, they are particularly polite, 731 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,960 but a little bit different when you go in them. 732 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:55,280 And they love this aspect. 733 00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:56,920 It's lovely and light and sunny 734 00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:59,760 and there's a lot of good forage in this area here. 735 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:01,880 Is the city really a good place to keep bees? 736 00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,360 Most people would think, well, loads of steel and glass 737 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:07,160 and concrete and roads and traffic in the city 738 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:09,400 would put bees off, what are they going to feed on? 739 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:11,440 If you look out here, there's chestnuts here 740 00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:14,480 and they'll start on those early in the year. 741 00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:17,120 And then the bees are all heading this way at the moment 742 00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:19,800 and there's a lot of lime trees over that way. 743 00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:22,400 And there's less insecticides 744 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,240 and there's an abundance of pollen and nectar. 745 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:30,120 There's a real medley, I suppose, 746 00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:32,160 as well, with all the different parks 747 00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:35,040 and avenues and people's gardens as well. 748 00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:36,600 So, they do incredibly well. 749 00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:42,040 Evidence from all over the world is showing that urban environments 750 00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:45,120 are bucking the trend when it comes to the decline in bees. 751 00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:50,200 In the UK, for instance, honeybees produce more in Birmingham 752 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:52,480 than they do in surrounding areas. 753 00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:55,480 And hives in Paris yield roughly twice as much honey 754 00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:57,720 as colonies in the French countryside. 755 00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:03,320 For now, the research seems to suggest that it's the varied diet 756 00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:07,440 that city bees are getting that may be keeping their numbers up. 757 00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,040 And the evidence of how different habitats affect honey is very clear. 758 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:17,040 So, we've got a Wapping honey here from E1, 759 00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:19,480 and this is quite a toffee-like honey. 760 00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:22,840 I love that. You've got it all down you, but I love it. 761 00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:26,800 This is a good honey. It's a very good honey, yeah. 762 00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:29,640 And then this is a honey from the roof of the Tate Modern. 763 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,680 Tate Modern? Yeah. And Wapping - that's not very far, is it? 764 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:35,120 Mm! 765 00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:38,840 Now, the distance between the hive that produced this 766 00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:40,800 and the hive that produced that - how far? 767 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:42,840 A mile and half, I'd say. 768 00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:45,880 How is it that you can get such a different variety of honey, 769 00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:48,520 though, in such a small, short distance? 770 00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:51,400 In urban areas especially, there's the most, you know, 771 00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:54,400 fantastic array of flowering plants and trees. 772 00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,800 I couldn't pass up the chance of showing off my own produce. 773 00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:00,560 Do you want to try my honey now? Of course I want to try your honey. 774 00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:02,960 This is from Buckinghamshire. Deepest... 775 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:05,960 Not deepest... It's only just outside the M25, really. 776 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:09,040 I love the label. It's like there should be some sort of warning. 777 00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:11,280 Could be toxic. Could be toxic. No, it looks great. 778 00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:13,920 It's a couple of years old - I didn't get any honey last year. 779 00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:16,960 It's a mature... Mature. Lovely. It's been getting better in the jar. 780 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:18,560 It hasn't crystallised at all. 781 00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:21,960 Oh, now, that's rather good, Bill. Is it? That is rather good. 782 00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:24,720 Really lovely. 783 00:48:26,720 --> 00:48:29,160 I think Steve's probably being generous. 784 00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,000 This fact that bees are doing well in cities could, of course, 785 00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:39,480 be hinting at what's happening in the countryside. 786 00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:43,360 And I'd like to find out a bit more about how that habitat is changing. 787 00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:49,160 '060 degrees, 11.' 788 00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:50,760 Thank you. 789 00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:53,480 Dr Deepa Senapathi has being studying 790 00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:55,760 the changes in land use in the countryside. 791 00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:59,200 Cool. Isn't it cool? Yes! I love it. 792 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:06,920 'Traffic from 172 operating in the vicinity of Milton Keynes.' 793 00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,960 To demonstrate what she's found, she wants to give me a bird's-eye view. 794 00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:17,640 So, we're flying over some mixed woodland here, 795 00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:22,160 which you'd think would be a pretty nice place for bees to live. 796 00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:23,760 What's the picture been here? 797 00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:28,040 This site, historically, was woodland, and very little has changed 798 00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:31,680 and less than 5% of this site has changed over time. 799 00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:33,120 And yet, 800 00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:37,600 there's a 35% decline in species richness that's been recorded. 801 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:41,400 So, more than a third of the different kinds of bees 802 00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:45,360 that once lived in this woodland have now disappeared. 803 00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:46,840 What's intriguing here 804 00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:49,800 is that their immediate habitat has barely changed. 805 00:49:51,400 --> 00:49:53,200 What do you think is causing that? 806 00:49:53,200 --> 00:49:57,480 If the habitat here is friendly enough, what's happened? 807 00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:01,080 What's happening around the site is really important for bees. 808 00:50:01,080 --> 00:50:05,000 So, bees could nest within this site, but they might forage 809 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:08,680 up to a kilometre or two outside of the site. 810 00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:11,280 And what is really striking 811 00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:15,600 is the level of agriculture has gone up by about 30%. 812 00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:19,240 So, if I were to show you an old map... 813 00:50:19,240 --> 00:50:24,920 This is what this area used to look like in the 1920s and '30s. 814 00:50:24,920 --> 00:50:28,600 All the light green bits that you see are meadowland and grassland 815 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:32,040 with a little bit of agriculture, which is the brown bits. 816 00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:35,840 But if you look out of the window now, the entire countryside 817 00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:40,600 is turned into quite intensive agriculture and farming. 818 00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:45,360 Deepa's research has been repeated around 23 other sites in the UK 819 00:50:45,360 --> 00:50:48,080 and they all show the same thing. 820 00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:50,720 Although this landscape may look greener, 821 00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:54,040 it's what ecologists call a "green desert". 822 00:50:54,040 --> 00:50:57,240 Over the years, plants that bees do feed on 823 00:50:57,240 --> 00:51:01,680 have been replaced by vast expanses of plants that they can't feed on. 824 00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:04,320 It is quite counterintuitive, because you look at green, 825 00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:07,360 you look at the swathes of plants you can see there 826 00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:10,840 and you think that must be really good for bees and pollinators. 827 00:51:10,840 --> 00:51:14,880 The logical conclusion would be, then, that we need to rethink 828 00:51:14,880 --> 00:51:17,120 our entire system of modern agriculture, 829 00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:18,760 of the way we grow things. 830 00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:21,600 I think it's just a slight shift in, perhaps, 831 00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:25,560 thinking of more wildlife-friendly farming methods, 832 00:51:25,560 --> 00:51:28,120 not saying, "Agriculture is bad." 833 00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:31,360 It's just, there are ways to improve agriculture 834 00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:35,800 in a way that it might be more useful to biodiversity, 835 00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:37,240 it might be more friendly. 836 00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:42,000 So, you won't be surprised to hear that scientists 837 00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:44,880 aren't simply looking at why are the bees are dying. 838 00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:48,000 They're also trying to work out what we can do about it. 839 00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:00,760 One of the first things they've looked at 840 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:04,680 is taking place in the grounds of the University of Reading. 841 00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:07,480 They're hand-pollinating strawberry plants. 842 00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:14,600 It might seem strange, but hand-pollination is something 843 00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:17,680 that's already been tried out in southwest China, 844 00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:21,920 where wild bees have been completely eradicated due to loss of habitat. 845 00:52:24,160 --> 00:52:27,080 Perhaps it could be an answer for us. 846 00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:30,920 Take some pollen from there. So, here on the outside? Yeah. 847 00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:34,120 These... These are the anthers that actually produce the pollen. 848 00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:36,480 OK. Where shall I go? Let's try this flower here, 849 00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:39,000 so right on the centre. Right on the centre. 850 00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:41,360 That one? Yep. 851 00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:43,080 And you dab it on there gently 852 00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:45,480 and you'll have rubbed some pollen onto the stigmas 853 00:52:45,480 --> 00:52:48,400 and that will help develop and fertilise 854 00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:50,760 and you'll start a strawberry. 855 00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:53,440 I can see straightaway, though, that it's not exactly 856 00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:57,040 the same intricate talent that a bee would have! 857 00:52:57,040 --> 00:52:58,680 We're clumsy. We're clumsy. 858 00:52:59,840 --> 00:53:03,440 What the bees do perfectly is spread the pollen very precisely 859 00:53:03,440 --> 00:53:06,640 and evenly across the stigma of the flower, 860 00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:10,680 which is extremely important when it comes to the finished product. 861 00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:14,440 So, as consumers, what do we like to have? 862 00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:17,400 We like to have nice, large, perfectly formed fruit, 863 00:53:17,400 --> 00:53:20,920 that's what we're after, and you need good pollination to get that. 864 00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:23,640 And here's an example, this is quite an extreme example, 865 00:53:23,640 --> 00:53:25,680 but this hasn't been pollinated properly. 866 00:53:25,680 --> 00:53:29,000 Is that appetizing? No. Not really. 867 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:31,600 So, given the world where we've got declining pollinators, 868 00:53:31,600 --> 00:53:34,520 we wanted to ask the question, how much would it cost 869 00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:36,480 to replace that service that bees are giving? 870 00:53:36,480 --> 00:53:39,720 So, we trained up some students and we gave them paintbrushes 871 00:53:39,720 --> 00:53:42,360 and we timed them to pollinate different crops - 872 00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:44,720 strawberries, apples, oilseed and so on. 873 00:53:44,720 --> 00:53:46,000 And then we calculated 874 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:49,040 how many of those flowers there are flowering in a year in the UK 875 00:53:49,040 --> 00:53:50,640 and putting that together, 876 00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:53,040 working out what would be the minimum wage we could pay them. 877 00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:56,920 We came up with a figure of £1.9 billion a year 878 00:53:56,920 --> 00:53:58,880 to replace the service that bees do. 879 00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:03,280 So, it's pretty clear hand-pollination isn't practical 880 00:54:03,280 --> 00:54:05,520 and we really can't do without bees. 881 00:54:08,760 --> 00:54:10,400 But there is a second option, 882 00:54:10,400 --> 00:54:13,640 to find ways of creating a more bee-friendly environment. 883 00:54:18,920 --> 00:54:21,720 There's another research group at University of Reading 884 00:54:21,720 --> 00:54:24,200 who are trying a very different approach. 885 00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:28,160 Scientists Vicky and Jenny Wickens are investigating a way to help bees 886 00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:33,080 thrive on prime agricultural land without affecting the way we farm. 887 00:54:35,720 --> 00:54:37,440 So, what have we got here? 888 00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:41,680 This is a sown flower strip, so these flower strips are put in, 889 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:45,760 so they can boost the natural pollinators in the area. 890 00:54:45,760 --> 00:54:50,000 In fact, with bumblebees, we've found 500% more bumblebees here 891 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:53,040 than we do at grassy field margins in comparison. 892 00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:58,720 They're conducting a trial across 16 different farms. 893 00:54:58,720 --> 00:55:00,760 And where they planted these flower strips, 894 00:55:00,760 --> 00:55:04,840 they found the number of solitary bees went up by about a third 895 00:55:04,840 --> 00:55:06,880 and bumblebees increased fivefold. 896 00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:12,920 We see what the bees get out of it. What's in it for the farmer? 897 00:55:12,920 --> 00:55:14,680 They get improved yields. 898 00:55:14,680 --> 00:55:16,320 We have put potted plants 899 00:55:16,320 --> 00:55:18,960 in both the flower strips and in the field boundaries, 900 00:55:18,960 --> 00:55:22,880 so just typical grassy field boundaries, and we are looking at 901 00:55:22,880 --> 00:55:26,200 the number of seeds that are produced by these potted plants. 902 00:55:26,200 --> 00:55:29,200 We found a 50% increase in the number of seeds 903 00:55:29,200 --> 00:55:32,360 in the flower strips rather than the field boundaries, 904 00:55:32,360 --> 00:55:33,640 and this just proves 905 00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:35,920 how important these flower strips are to the farmer. 906 00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:46,480 So, if successful, these flower strips could not only give bees 907 00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:49,680 a home in the countryside, they could actually increase 908 00:55:49,680 --> 00:55:51,360 the amount of food farmers can produce 909 00:55:51,360 --> 00:55:54,480 without changing the way they grow their crops. 910 00:56:02,720 --> 00:56:05,920 But there's another potential solution in the pipeline 911 00:56:05,920 --> 00:56:07,720 which, in the long-term, 912 00:56:07,720 --> 00:56:10,760 could be rather promising, although it is some way off. 913 00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:15,080 Lin Field is doing something which might make us 914 00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:18,560 less dependent on traditional pesticides. 915 00:56:19,760 --> 00:56:22,400 She's creating genetically modified plants 916 00:56:22,400 --> 00:56:26,160 which she believes could one day replace pesticides 917 00:56:26,160 --> 00:56:28,000 and help protect our bees. 918 00:56:30,680 --> 00:56:35,600 Here we're trying to use a natural compound that aphids produce 919 00:56:35,600 --> 00:56:38,840 to warn other aphids that there's a predator around, 920 00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:40,080 that there's some sort of risk. 921 00:56:40,080 --> 00:56:42,480 This compound, which is called (E)-beta-farnesene, 922 00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:45,160 is a pheromone, an alarm pheromone, 923 00:56:45,160 --> 00:56:49,680 and it's normally secreted by the aphid and other aphids detect it. 924 00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:51,920 We can demonstrate to you how it does that, 925 00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:54,800 so if you take the syringe, which has got the compound in it, 926 00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:58,160 and I take off this little clip cage so we can see the aphids, 927 00:56:58,160 --> 00:57:00,720 and you put the drop onto there. 928 00:57:03,240 --> 00:57:06,680 And what we've done is, we've engineered into a crop plant 929 00:57:06,680 --> 00:57:08,520 the ability to make this compound, 930 00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:11,520 so that the plant itself gives off the smell 931 00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:13,240 and aphids don't attack it. 932 00:57:13,240 --> 00:57:17,280 So, it will naturally scare the aphids away? It will. 933 00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:20,480 So, the colony that was there, some of them are still there, 934 00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:22,280 but most of them have moved away. 935 00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:24,640 They're coming around the edge side of the plant. 936 00:57:24,640 --> 00:57:26,800 Indeed, a lot of them have dropped off. 937 00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:31,280 It's using a natural system that the aphid has evolved to detect 938 00:57:31,280 --> 00:57:33,920 in a situation that will help protect our crops. 939 00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:35,960 So, what does this mean for the bees? 940 00:57:35,960 --> 00:57:38,800 The bee will be completely unaffected by this compound. 941 00:57:38,800 --> 00:57:42,160 The bees don't detect this compound, they wouldn't respond to it, 942 00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:44,080 so it wouldn't be affecting bees. 943 00:57:46,280 --> 00:57:49,240 Both these strategies will take years to implement 944 00:57:49,240 --> 00:57:52,920 but it's hoped they could help reverse the decline in bee numbers. 945 00:57:57,080 --> 00:57:58,680 So, what is killing our bees? 946 00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:04,640 These beautiful, complex creatures are ultimately very sensitive 947 00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:06,840 to any fluctuations in their environment. 948 00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:11,880 We live in a rapidly changing world 949 00:58:11,880 --> 00:58:14,160 that they are struggling to cope with. 950 00:58:17,560 --> 00:58:22,240 Viruses, chemicals and modern agriculture 951 00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:25,640 form a fatal combination for these fragile insects 952 00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:27,120 on whom we depend so much. 953 00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:30,200 What strikes me 954 00:58:30,200 --> 00:58:34,000 is that there's a common factor behind these three, and that's us. 955 00:58:34,000 --> 00:58:36,240 We've helped to spread the varroa mite, 956 00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:37,920 we've developed pesticides, 957 00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:40,960 we've changed agricultural practices. 958 00:58:40,960 --> 00:58:45,400 Perhaps it's what we're doing ourselves that's killing the bees. 959 00:59:11,200 --> 00:59:14,280 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd