In their new book, ““The Forgotten Pollinators,’’ Gary Paul Nabham and Stephen Buchmann report that 90 percent of the most important food crops are pollinated, primarily by wild insects and other animals. But with the spread of industrial development, the pollinators are getting squeezed out. Honeybees, for example, pollinate about 15 percent of U.S. crops, but there are about half as many today as there were 50 years ago. Why the sharp decline? The culprits include the spread of predatory African bees and the abolition of subsidies for beekeepers. ““If bees continue to decline,’’ says Buchmann, ““there will be a $5 billion to $8 billion increase in food costs.''
To repair the situation, the authors suggest creating insect preserves, reducing pesticides and planting backyard ““pollinator gardens.’’ A small price, they say, for that breakfast melon.
