Farmers turn to tech as bees struggle to pollinate

Bee populations are under pressure due to climate change

(News Desk) - In the scorching morning heat Thai Sade brushes the avocado trees he will soon artificially pollinate. Based on a moshav, or collective farm, in central Israel, Mr Sade is the founder of tech firm BloomX.

He says that the company has found a way to mechanically pollinate crops in a similar way to bees.

"We are not replacing bees... but rather, offering more efficient pollinating methods to farmers, and reducing the dependence on commercial honeybees," he says.

Three out of every four crops grown around the world to produce fruits or seeds for human consumption are reliant, at least in part, on pollinators. And it is bees, be they farmed honeybees, or the more than 20,000 different wild bee species, such as bumble bees, that do the heavy lifting.

In the US, bees of all sorts are said to account for 75% of the pollination of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the country. It is a similar percentage in Europe, with other insects, such as wasps and butterflies, making up the remaining quarter.

Unfortunately for farmers, bee populations are under pressure, due to factors such as climate change, habit loss and the use of pesticides.

The European honeybee is also being badly affected by a parasitic mite called varroa destructor.

BloomX's technology is currently aimed at two crops - blueberries and avocados - and allows them to be pollinated even if local bee numbers are very low.

The firm's main products is called "Robee", which at first glance looks like a large push-along lawnmower. It has two mechanical arms that stick out either side.

These vibrate, and when brushed over blueberry plants, they cause them to release their pollen. The level of vibration is said to have been designed to imitate that of bumble bees - the most effective pollinators of blueberries - which use their wings to agitate the flowers.

BloomX's other product is "Crossbee", a handheld tool for collecting and spreading sticky pollen grains between avocado trees. To date the equipment is being used in South America, South Africa, Spain, the US and Israel, and BloomX says it can increase fruit yields by 30%.

Both products are controlled by an AI-based software system linked to a mobile phone app, and each is fitted with a GPS tool so that farm workers know which areas of a field have been treated.

Sensors can also be put in place so that the pollination takes place on the optimum days.

In California, the cultivation of almonds is a huge business. The state producers 80% of the world's almonds, and the industry is worth an estimated $10.4bn (£8.3bn) a year.

To fertilise the total 1.3 million acres of these trees, honeybees are trucked to California from across the US for the almond flowering season. Some reports say that 70% of commercial US honeybees are taken to the state for this purpose.

Lisa Wasko DeVetter, an associate professor of horticulture at Washington State University, says that this can mean a shortage of honeybees elsewhere in the US for other crops. Artificial pollination may be able to help fill this gap.

13-year-old girl goes missing She works as a maid in the house of spiritual leader LARKANA: A 13-year-old girl working as a maid in the house of a Pir went missing mysteriously, police said.

Rahela Chandio had been working Pir Khalique Mushvari for five years, but on the day of the incident, she left the house, and did not return.

Pir Khalique Mushvari told the police that the girl had been missing for two days.

Police are interrogating the other members of the family after registering a case.

Two youth murdered in Gujranwala incidents Police are investigating GUJRANWALA (Dunya News) - Two youth were murdered in two different incidents here on Monday night.

In the first incident in Ladghwala area, a youth identified as Afaq, 20, was murdered with repeated blows of a blunt weapon.

According to the police, Afaq developed friendship with a girl on social media. On the day of the incident, he went to meet her in her house, but the girl’s father and brother subjected him to severe torture before killing him with a blunt weapon.

Police are investigating.

In the second incident in Rana Colony, Sabzi Mandi, a youth identified as Fahad shot dead his friend Qasim over a dispute pertaining to a girl.

Police have registered a case against the accused who escaped after killing his friend.

Robbers take life of father, daughter in Karachi robbery attempt Four members of a family were going on a bike when they were targetted by the looters KARACHI (Dunya News) – Robbers killed a man and his daughter on resistance in Korangi, near Chamra Chorangi area here on Monday night.

Four people including a man, a woman and their two daughters were going on a bike when they were intercepted by two robbers at a gunpoint.

The man tried to evade the looters, but he was chased and stopped by the armed men.

When the robbers attempted to snatch valuables from the biker, he resisted.

As a result, the looters opened fire, which hit the man and her daughter, who died on the spot.

The victim’s wife told the police that her husband and daughter were shot dead by the robbers when her husband put resistance to foil the robbery attempt.

According to the area police, victim Tahir Zaman, his wife and their two children were on their way on a motorcycle when two robbers riding a bike intercepted them and tried to snatch valuables from the family.

Victim Tahir Zaman put resistance and refused to give them cash and other valuables.

As a result, the robbers killed him and his daughter.

Police said the victims were residents of Shah Faisal, Azeempura.

Sindh CM and IG sought report into the double murder.

According to the police, Tahir Zaman was a security official, and police were investigating.