‘Wake-up call': A sting in the bee love story for native pollinators
Dr Judy Friedlander, an adjunct fellow in sustainability at the University of Technology Sydney, said hosting native bees in backyards or on balconies was one of the biggest things that urban dwellers could do to boost biodiversity.
'When people read about the supposed decline of European bee here due to things like the varroa mite, they panic, and they think that it's the end of the world and the end of our agriculture, but it's not,' Friedlander said.
'Beekeepers should be supported, and it needs to be taken seriously, but the focus on [varroa mite] has been to the detriment of native bees and native beekeepers. The whole varroa mite thing should be a big wake-up call because when we start relying on one species for our crop pollination, we're in big trouble.'
Dr Katja Hogendoorn, of the University of Adelaide, said there were not enough native bees to pollinate all crops, so European honeybees (Apis mellifera) were also needed – but they did not belong in nature.
Hogendoorn, who recently published a paper that described 71 new species of native bee, said there was 'a lot to discover still'. She previously published a review that found European honeybees compete with wild bees globally, including native species in Australia.
'In my head, there is no shadow of a doubt that honeybees, especially in this country where we've got enormous densities, have a negative impact on our native bee populations,' Hogendoorn said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Social apnea: The new sleep disorder trend that has experts concerned
Australian researchers have identified a new sleep disorder trend, dubbed 'social apnea', potentially sparked by weekend lifestyle choices including late nights, alcohol and smoking. An international study from Flinders University found a 'consistent and significant' increase in the severity of obstructive sleep apnea on weekends, which they have attributed to lifestyle choices and irregular sleep patterns. The findings have prompted fears the true impact of sleep apnea, or sleep disordered breathing, may be underestimated, placing sufferers at greater risk of health conditions including heart disease, depression, dementia and extreme fatigue. The research, published in the prestigious American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, analysed data from more than 70,000 people. It found participants were 18 per cent more likely to have moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea on Saturdays, compared to Wednesdays. Lead author Lucia Pinilla, from Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute Sleep Health, said changes in sleep schedules, such as late nights or sleep ins, worsened sleep apnea. 'Most clinical diagnostic testing is done on a single night, typically a weeknight, missing the weekend effect we're now calling social apnea,' Dr Pinilla said. The study found sleeping an extra 45 minutes or more on weekends increased the risk of worse sleep apnea by 47 per cent. Men were 21 per cent more likely to be affected, compared to a 9 per cent increase in women. Those aged under 60 had a 24 per cent higher risk of obstructive sleep apnea on weekends. The study offers the first evidence that sleep apnea severity increases on weekends, which senior author and FHMIR Sleep Health director Danny Eckert said was significant. 'We don't yet know exactly why, but alcohol use, lighter sleep, and less consistent use of OSA therapies likely play a role,' Professor Eckert said. He said the findings highlighted the need for sleep assessments to be carried out over numerous nights. 'Relying on a single-night sleep study may miss important variations, leading to underdiagnosis or misclassification of OSA severity,' he said. To combat 'social apnea', Professor Eckert recommended a regular sleep routine and aiming for seven to nine hours of sleep each night. 'Keeping a fixed wake-up time and using your prescribed OSA therapy, even on weekends, and going to bed when you feel sleepy will help ensure you frequently get enough restorative sleep which can help combat the weekend spike in OSA.'
9 News
15 hours ago
- 9 News
A new drug helped Lee survive breast cancer. Then she was thrown a curveball
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here When Sydney woman Lee Hunt was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer back in 2005, she underwent gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She also began taking what was a relatively new and promising targeted therapy drug at the time, Herceptin, which has been shown to boost the effects of chemotherapy. Little did Hunt know that the very treatments that likely saved her life would lead to serious health problems down the track. Lee Hunt, pictured with her husband and grandson. (Supplied) Five years after finishing her cancer treatments, she began to notice strange symptoms. "I just started fainting, and feeling very dizzy," Hunt said. Hunt was referred to a haematologist by her GP, on the assumption that it might be her low blood pressure causing the problem. Luckily, the hematologist was aware of growing evidence of breast cancer survivors developing heart problems after taking Herceptin. Hunt was sent to see a cardiologist, who diagnosed her with cardiotoxity, which refers to long-term damage to the heart caused by a medical treatment. Hunt isn't alone, with data showing heart disease related to cancer treatment is emerging as a significant threat to breast cancer survivors. It is now estimated that up to 30 percent of breast cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy will go on to develop potentially life-threatening heart complications as a side effect of associated targeted therapies, immunotherapies or the chemotherapy itself. Lee Hunt, pictured with her husband on a hiking trip in Italy. (Supplied) Australian scientists at the Heart Research Institute hope to have a solution to the problem soon, in the form of a new drug that patients can take while undergoing chemotherapy to prevent heart damage. Professor Julie McMullen leads a team of researchers at the institute who have earmarked two potential drugs which have been showing promise. The drugs are being tested on revolutionary "mini-hearts" created in the lab. The size of a grain of sand, these tiny hearts are made from donated human blood, and have their own heartbeat. Professor Julie McMullen and researcher Dr Clara Liu Chung Ming are pictured the Heart Research Institute's laboratory. (Supplied) The tiny heart model was developed in the laboratory of University of Technology Associate Professor Carmine Gentile in an Australian first. "We can collect blood from breast cancer patients, and then isolate their cells, and with those cells, we can make these little mini hearts," McMullen said. "Then, if we put some cancer drugs onto them, we can see if that impacts how they beat. "We can also test whether one of our protective drugs protects them against any defects in how they beat." The ambitious cardio-oncology project also aims to understand why some patients are more susceptible to cardiotoxicity than others, helping pave the way for more personalised treatment in the future. "We currently have limited knowledge on why cardiotoxicity occurs and which women will be most impacted," McMullen said. "This research has the opportunity to identify women at risk of cardiotoxicity before symptoms are present, so we can develop drugs to protect the heart during and after cancer treatment." national health Breast Cancer Research Australia CONTACT US
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Most parents skip the flu jab for their children. Is that a bad idea?
The bulk of influenza infections occur in children; they are also the main transmitters of the virus within the community. One study of 29 countries, including Australia, found 19 per cent of flu cases were in children under four. Consider this study from Hong Kong that tracked the spread of flu through households: kids under 18 were up to 2.8 times more likely to pass on the virus than adults, and they were more likely to catch it. Children seem to shed more copies of the virus (including before they show symptoms); they also tend to have closer contact with adults. They are also less likely to wash their hands, and more likely to put things in their mouth. Why? Principally because they are immune-naive: their bodies have not had time to train on influenza. An adult has an arsenal of antibodies to several different strains of the flu. A young child has nothing beyond any left-over antibodies from their mother. 'They are new in the world, and they are getting infected with a lot of different viruses,' says Professor Kristine Macartney, director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. 'While that's inevitable, what we don't want – and I promise you as a paediatrician who has cared for many kids critically ill in hospital with flu – we don't want to see kids with severe illness.' We often think of the flu as a nuisance for young people and adults, and a threat for the elderly. Consider flu vaccination rates: 60 per cent of Australians over 65 have had a jab, compared to 24.7 per cent of those under five. 'They are new in the world, and they are getting infected with a lot of different viruses.' Professor Kristine Macartney on the susceptibility of children But influenza hospitalisation rates among very young children are surprisingly high – higher still if you add in all those who have co-infections, such as RSV at the same time. Young children also tend to suffer the most from the flu. They typically have higher fevers, more severe symptoms, and shed more of the virus, which explains why they are such effective transmitters. Indeed, every year the flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people globally, including about 28,000 people under 18. Some years, the hospitalisation rate for Australians under five exceeds that of those over 65. And while children with comorbidities are particularly at risk, there does seem to be a lot of random variation, with some perfectly healthy youngsters getting severely ill and ending up in intensive care. 'The vast majority of kids we see hospitalised each year … are healthy children. When this happens, it is a shock to parents,' Macartney says. Per the most recent Australian influenza season report, 39 people died with the flu in sentinel hospitals (those participating in influenza surveillance) in 2023, nine of them children. When we are infected, or vaccinated, our bodies develop armies of antibodies specific to glycoproteins on the surface of the virus. Loading Over time, and under pressure from our new antibodies, the virus mutates – a process known as antigenic drift – eventually to the point where our antibodies no longer recognise it. We undergo another cycle of infection and immunity. Remarkably, antibodies developed to a flu infection in childhood may actually offer us lifelong protection against similar strains of flu, a process known as immune imprinting. Australia licenses two free vaccines for children under five. Unlike the adult vaccine, they are given over two doses. Vaccinating kids for the flu seems to work reasonably well. A large US study in 2020 found having at least one dose of vaccine cut the chances of hospitalisation from the flu by 55 per cent. 'So it's good, but it's not great,' says Professor Robert Booy, an infectious diseases paediatrician at the University of Sydney, who has run clinical trials of flu vaccines. The overall reduction in infections tends to sit at about 50 to 60 per cent, he says. There are also community benefits. Vaccinating children seems to cut the amount of virus that is spread around the community. Given the number of viruses parents have to endure from their children, avoiding one seems a smart bet. And the vaccine seems safe. Australia conducted one of the phase 3 trials for one of our vaccines licensed in children. It reported zero serious adverse events or deaths. Just 1.1 per cent of parents take their children to see a doctor in the days after getting a flu shot. Given all this, why are flu vaccination rates falling among kids? Loading The obvious answer is: the pandemic. During 2020, parents wanted to protect their kids from COVID, but there was no COVID vaccine, so they got a flu jab instead. 'People were trying to take action against something,' says Jessica Kaufman, head of the vaccine social science team at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. After COVID was no longer front of mind, parents began putting less emphasis on the importance of flu protection. Parents are busy as it is without one more thing to think about – and kids don't much like having needles stuck in their arms. The flu vaccine is optional, compared to the more stringently recommended vaccines of childhood. Perhaps some parents worry about over-jabbing their kids? But the world is full of antigens, Booy says. Adding one more is not going to make much of a difference. 'It's a vaccine that is completely safe. It absolutely helps benefit not only the child, but also the immediate family and everyone around them. Children are super-spreaders,' Macartney says. 'It is definitely not too late to vaccinate. We have influenza on the rise at the moment – it's looking to be well above previous years.'
