Recent reports of alarming losses within the commercial honey bee industry have farmers concerned about the future. California’s almond industry alone requires 90% of commercially managed bees to pollinate its orchards. A nation-wide study conducted in January 2025 estimates the 12-month losses at well over 50% on average, with individual beekeepers in the 70-100% loss range*. This amounts to a combined financial loss of over $139M in a scenario that is eerily reminiscent of 2007-2008’s Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), but with no modern cause in sight. With this in mind, we asked our Waterborne Scientists who specialize in pollinators about alternatives to honey bees and the steps farmers can take to protect their crops.

Fortunately, there is much hope for farmers beyond commercial honey bee populations. Mother Nature has provided an array of pollinator options, and our Scientists have developed agriculture-based programs that lean heavily on native pollinators. Farmers around the world are finding that native pollinator options are becoming increasingly useful as pests and diseases continue to impact honey bee populations. While location and the crops being grown will impact a pollinator’s suitability, we’ve described a few of the advantages to native pollinators below.

Orchard crop growers have long relied on commercial honey bees to pollinate their trees, however, they are not the only option available. Osmia lignaria, also known as the Blue Orchard Bee or Orchard Mason Bee, is a blue black beauty that’s native to North America and can already be found in orchards from California to Quebec to parts of the Southern States. Unlike honey bees, this highly efficient pollinator nests alone in small cavities or holes already found in nature. Farmers can coax them to orchards through strategically placed artificial nests made out of tubes, blocks, or hollow reeds. Blue Orchard Bees hibernate over winter and emerge when temperatures warm in the spring, ready to pollinate as flowers emerge. These native pollinators are useful for commercial pollination in...

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With a changing climate, many species, including agricultural pests, are likely to shift their geographical ranges, a change that could have important implications for pest management and crop yields. In their study, “Estimating the Range Shift of Beetle Occurrence Using Species Distribution Modeling, an Application in the Climate-Change Perspective,” Waterborne scientists questioned how climate shifts could impact major pests and crafted a study centered around the spotted cucumber beetle (SCB), a significant pest to cucurbit crops in the US. Using flexible and open platform species niches and distributions models, they first explored the presence of suitable SCB habitat within the USA and then projected that habitat’s suitability through to 2070, considering different climate change scenarios.

To build their species distribution model, data on species occurrence (locations where the species was observed) and environmental conditions relevant to the species across the US have to be retrieved and processed. Therefore, our scientists used the dataset of the SCB occurrences from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the environmental data from WorldClim. After processing these datasets, they performed a partition of occurrence data a process that allows testing the accuracy of the predictive model when no independent data are available. Subsequently, they ran the species distribution model, Maxent, which is based on a machine-learning algorithm that estimates the species response to the environment. They tested two different climate-change scenarios: the intermediate RCP4.5 scenario and the worst-case RCP 8.5 scenario. 

Their results showed a mixed future for the SCB: estimated range loss within the Southeastern US and Southern Texas, but also a range expansion in the Northeast, Northern parts of the Midwest, Eastern regions of CA, and the Pacific Northwest. Both climate scenarios suggest that the species could become a major pest in regions where it is currently absent or occurring at low abundances.

Justices Suggest Flexible Rule for Where to Bring EPA Suits:

The US Supreme Court considered where industry groups and states can challenge EPA actions, suggesting the justices might come to different outcomes depending on the actions challenged.

United Nations Releases 2025 World Water Development Report:

The WWDR is UN-Water's flagship report on water and sanitation issues. Launched on World Water Day, the report gives policy recommendations to decision-makers by offering best practices and in-depth analyses. This year's World Water Day, held on March 22nd, kicked off the year-long effort, the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation.

If Industry-backed law passes, EPA couldn't use the science behind hundreds of environmental protections:

The proposed law introduced would bar the federal Environmental Protection Agency from using hundreds of chemical assessments completed by its IRIS program in environmental regulations or enforcement.

New substances added to the EU's surface water watchlist:

It contains twelve pollutants, the impacts of which have been identified as having the possibility for widespread concern for the environment and human health.

Supreme Court Deals Blow to E.P.A. in Dispute Over Federal Water Rules: The 5-to-4 decision is the latest setback for the agency and could have sweeping implications for curtailing water pollution offshore.

Harkening a theme of “Working Together for Clean Water”, the National Monitoring Conference (NMC) drew together state, tribal, and local water monitoring experts from around the globe at the outlet of the Fox River in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Hosted by the National Water Quality Monitoring Council, the conference highlighted all aspects of monitoring – from field methods to advanced statistics – and provided opportunities for professionals to connect through technical sessions, over meals and through well-crafted networking sessions. The Exhibition Hall showcased the latest technologies, products, and services from vendors in the field and offered attendees a hands-on opportunity to test products, visualize data, and interact with technical experts.

Waterborne’s Martha Gerig presented data from the first year of a project that draws a novel connection between agricultural nonpoint source water quality and drone application of biostimulants on a Missouri farm. Amongst her copresenters in the session titled “Agricultural Stressors on Environmental Health” were professionals from Colorado, Virginia, and Wisconsin, demonstrating the breadth of content and the audience commanded by the event. During a designated network session organized by topic area, Gerig conversed with a small group of professionals about how to assess the impact of management decisions through monitoring data. Through a series of guided questions, the group discussed managing large data streams, parsing “the signal from the noise”, and understanding the value of collecting long-term monitoring data in the face of budgetary constraints and priority shifts. While each individual came from different institution type (i.e. private industry, academia, state government), common recurring threads throughout the conversation maintained common ground among participants while offering a new set of perspectives.

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Waterborne’s Illinois team is gearing up for an exciting field day on April 3rd to view how different agricultural practices impact water quality and nutrient runoff through environmental pathways, all the way to sourced drinking water. The event will be hosted by the McLean County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Purdue University, Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC), The Nature Conservancy, and Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership (ISAP).

Waterborne is proud to support many of these organizations. Our team often lends our expertise in many areas, including instrumentation and study design, data services, and spatial analysis, to deliver solutions assessing potential water quality and nutrient runoff challenges throughout Illinois and the Midwest.

Spatially Referenced Global River Flow Data for Aquatic Safety Assessment Exposure Models Developed from Publicly Available Global Data Sets

Publication Date: February 2, 2025

DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.4c00637

Transport and retention of microplastic fibers in streams are impacted by benthic algae, discharge, and substrate

Publication Date (Web): February 5, 2025

Environmental context differentially influences nitrogen and phosphorus uptake in streams (open source)

Publication Date: February 24, 2025