236
M. A. M. Osman and M. A. Shebl
based on trade name recorded 1159 from about 264 common names at 2016 [123].
However, there is limited information upon the use of NIs in Egypt, concentrations
and frequency of detection indicates that use is similar to that of the US and European
farms [124].
6 Newly Approaches for Bee and Other Pollinators
Conservation
There are a lot of efforts from several scientists, conservationists, environmentalists
and others for protecting and conserving plant pollinators with a particular interest
with honey and solitary bees. Many current projects, programs and organizations
are working to conserve pollinating fauna worldwide. Some closely related projects
include the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), the IUCN (The World Conservation Union), the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), the FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organization), the NAPPC (The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign),
Status and Trends of European Pollinators (STEP), Integrated Crop Pollination (ICP,
USDA), USA and the CANPOLIN (Canadian Pollination Initiative).
Here we are summarizing some of our efforts for protecting the habitats of some
solitary bees present in Egypt. In the last decade, we noticed that several cavitynesting bees are in decline due to the natural habitat fragmentation, degradation
and destruction. Several artificial nesting materials (e.g. wood, paper straws and
polystyrene foam) were evaluated for nesting several bee species in the Canal region
as conservation efforts of wild bee fauna of Egypt to ensure better pollination services of some cultivated crops. These nests were used as traps in the natural nesting areas and established at the Bee Research Center of the Suez Canal University
(Fig. 3). Three bee species have been nested successfully in the artificial nests (cavitynesting bees). All of them belong to the family Megachilidae including Chalicodoma
siculum (Rossi), Megachile minutissima (Radoszkowski, 1876) and Osmia latreillei
(Spinola). The three species were used for pollination of three major crops in Egypt
broad bean, alfalfa and sunflower [125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 91].
Last but not least, the global decline of bees is a real problem and will have a
great influence on our food security. Therefore, a political welling must be taken into
considerations for several governments and in particular in Egypt. Several efforts
must be taken into account such as enhancing the health of pollinators “honeybees
and solitary bees”, avoid extensive using of chemical pesticides which harm to pollinators, encourage local farmers for cultivating bee-friendly plants and improving the
nutrition of bees and protecting the natural nesting habitats of solitary bees. Fundraising should be subjected for solving several problems of honeybee health, a decline
of bee pollinators and the importance of the pollination services for our ecosystem.
M. A. M. Osman and M. A. Shebl
based on trade name recorded 1159 from about 264 common names at 2016 [123].
However, there is limited information upon the use of NIs in Egypt, concentrations
and frequency of detection indicates that use is similar to that of the US and European
farms [124].
6 Newly Approaches for Bee and Other Pollinators
Conservation
There are a lot of efforts from several scientists, conservationists, environmentalists
and others for protecting and conserving plant pollinators with a particular interest
with honey and solitary bees. Many current projects, programs and organizations
are working to conserve pollinating fauna worldwide. Some closely related projects
include the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), the IUCN (The World Conservation Union), the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), the FAO (Food and Agriculture
Organization), the NAPPC (The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign),
Status and Trends of European Pollinators (STEP), Integrated Crop Pollination (ICP,
USDA), USA and the CANPOLIN (Canadian Pollination Initiative).
Here we are summarizing some of our efforts for protecting the habitats of some
solitary bees present in Egypt. In the last decade, we noticed that several cavitynesting bees are in decline due to the natural habitat fragmentation, degradation
and destruction. Several artificial nesting materials (e.g. wood, paper straws and
polystyrene foam) were evaluated for nesting several bee species in the Canal region
as conservation efforts of wild bee fauna of Egypt to ensure better pollination services of some cultivated crops. These nests were used as traps in the natural nesting areas and established at the Bee Research Center of the Suez Canal University
(Fig. 3). Three bee species have been nested successfully in the artificial nests (cavitynesting bees). All of them belong to the family Megachilidae including Chalicodoma
siculum (Rossi), Megachile minutissima (Radoszkowski, 1876) and Osmia latreillei
(Spinola). The three species were used for pollination of three major crops in Egypt
broad bean, alfalfa and sunflower [125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 91].
Last but not least, the global decline of bees is a real problem and will have a
great influence on our food security. Therefore, a political welling must be taken into
considerations for several governments and in particular in Egypt. Several efforts
must be taken into account such as enhancing the health of pollinators “honeybees
and solitary bees”, avoid extensive using of chemical pesticides which harm to pollinators, encourage local farmers for cultivating bee-friendly plants and improving the
nutrition of bees and protecting the natural nesting habitats of solitary bees. Fundraising should be subjected for solving several problems of honeybee health, a decline
of bee pollinators and the importance of the pollination services for our ecosystem.