Bumblebee and its presence in agro-ecosystems

Dear readers, in this opportunity we will talk about the importance of an insect that belongs to the order Hymenoptera and that is commonly known in some areas of Venezuela as bumblebee, belongs to the genus Bombus and its species play a fundamental role in natural and agricultural ecosystems since, it has the capacity to be a pollinator like bees, that is to say these insects are part of the functional biodiversity of ecosystems, Therefore, in agricultural systems there must be a natural balance so that these organisms can carry out their activity efficiently.

In this same sense, it can be said that the bumblebee thanks to its oral apparatus sucks the nectar of the flowers, so it can walk from plant to plant sucking the nectar of the flowers and collecting pollen, some researchers point out that the pollination process of the bumblebee may be better than that of the bee because they have a larger size that allows them to have greater contact the pistils (female reproductive organ of flowers) and also have more hair or hair that makes it easier to transport a greater amount of pollen.

After knowing the role of these insects in ecosystems, it is important to know that it limits their presence in agroecosystems, as we all know agro-ecosystems are natural spaces that have been transformed for crop production in an intensive manner, the problem lies when agricultural production units focus on the specific production of a single crop, this breaks the balance and directly affects functional biodiversity such as bumblebee. Because? It is simple if we have a single plant species the insect will not have diversity of flowers where it can collect nectar and pollen, causing a delay in the formation of fruits and seeds due to lack of natural pollinating agents in an agricultural crop.

To complement the aforementioned, We will cite Perez and Realpe (s.f), who investigated the health of bumblebees and the state of the landscape, concluding that foraging habits (gathering nectar and pollen) of bumblebees can be affected when there are changes in the plant composition present in ecosystems especially when monocultures (a single crop) are established. The authors mention that there are bumblebees with broad foraging that can make routes for the collection of nectar and pollen at an approximate distance from their nest between 1000 and 3000 meters; and other bumblebees with reduced foraging with distances between 100 and 1000 meters. Of these species both are affected by monocultures, but the survival of reduced foraging is put at risk because they do not have sufficient plant diversity.

The diversity of plants influences, because bumblebees, both adults and larvae, get all the necessary nutrients from the flowers of different species of plants, in this sense, Tasei and Aupinel (2008), point out that bumblebees that obtain nectar and pollen from different plants increase the production of larvae because they find a diversity of nutrient elements (protein, lipids, amino acids and carbohydrates) that optimize the insect’s diet, which can influence your resistance to pathogens and pesticides.

On the other hand, there are other factors that can influence the disappearance of the functional biodiversity of agroecosystems, such as the indiscriminate use of insecticides, herbicides and other chemicals, taking into account that they are toxic substances which, when applied on a recurring basis, may progressively reduce the population of such insects. It can then be inferred that in areas where monocultures exist and in addition to this, synthetic products are excessively applied, there is the possibility that this type of beneficial insects for agricultural production and natural ecosystems will be completely reduced.

It has also been evidenced, according to some news, the introduction of bumblebee colonies in some ecosystems, one of the hypotheses that exist for its introduction is that some species do not adapt to the new habitat, new diseases spread to other species and compete for resources with native species. This marketing of bumblebees being effective or not, breaks the balance in ecosystems and tries to correct the effects of conventional agriculture that has significantly decreased the functional biodiversity present in their spaces.

Dear readers, as can be evidenced in the manuscript it is important to know what are the organisms that are present in our cultivated areas, and to investigate what are their positive or negative effects as the case may be, This will allow better decisions to be made regarding the management that can be applied to the cultivation or control of insects in case they are pathogenic. Also important is the diversification of crops, as we mentioned before and here is an example of why to have more than one crop sown. We must be governed by natural processes and not abuse in the application of artificial resources, as systems are being wiped out, now also commercialize biodiversity with the sale of bumblebee colonies.