American Honey Bees

Since the late 1990s, beekeepers around the world have observed the mysterious and sudden disappearance of bees, and report unusually high rates of decline in honeybee colonies. Bees do more than just make honey! Bee transfer pollen and seeds from one flower to another, fertilizing the plant so it can grow and produce food. Cross-pollination helps at least 30 percent of the world's crops and 90% affects our food. The sweet fruits humans eat such as, strawberries, mangoes, grapes, apples, and bananas would not be the same taste wise as they are now. We simply couldn’t live in the same world if it weren’t for the bees.

Pollinating flowers and contributing to the beautification of the planet’s landscapes may be the bees’ perhaps simplest and least economically important actions, but it’s certainly its most aesthetically pleasing one.

Bees are the reason we have jelly, fruit, nuts, coffee and so many other vegetation (Lecture 09/27). Without these creatures we would lose so much more of our biodiversity, which is already suffering from other anthropogenic actions. Our society has a habit of finding the most cost efficient methods to produce goods that please the consumers without considering all the consequences of these actions. More importantly, we do not recognize the harm that we have caused until the damage is outrageous and requires a solution. But, this problem cannot follow those footsteps because it is essential for our ecosystem to thrive. These solution would not only save millions of dollars by being proactive, but would allow us to sustain food sources, biodiversity, and the survival of

The European honey bee (or western honey bee, Apis Mellifera) is a species of bee that naturally occurs in Europe, but has been introduced by humans to a variety of foreign ecosystems, including Australia and New Zealand. It is of ecological importance because of the effect that this introduced species has on the biodiversity of native wildlife, in particular native bees, hollow-nesting native birds and mammals, honeyeater birds and native flora.

The Americas are a different story. It is more densely populated than Northern Africa, and there are no predators of the bee here. Some of its direct effects include being of a hazard to humans and being too hostile. As shown previously, these bees can get very defensive of their colony and will instigate mass stings that can last hours. The bees can be fatal to humans once stung more than a hundred times or simply if the person is allergic to them.

Long ago in the 1950s, a special type of killer bee called the Africanized honey bee was imported by farmers to Brazil. Local farmers created the idea of crossbreeding the new Africanised honey bee with the local population of honeybees and order to increase the honey population. This in effect, would increase the biodiversity in many areas such as South America and the Southern part of the U.S. However, in 1957, twenty-six Afrikan Queens Bees and European worker bees escaped from an experimental laboratory in Sãn Paulo. After escaping, many Africanized bees formed hybrids with European honey bees. Many became adapted to the environment and spread spreading throughout South America, South Africa and Mexico, eventually creating an ecological

America’s bees are slowly beginning to suffer. The number of hives had been at 6 million during World War 2, and then decreased to 2.6 million in 2006, then fell below 2 million for the first time in memory (Jacobsen). From the very start honey bees have been an important factor in our agriculture. They serve as a nutrition source for flowers in order for the flowers to grow and make the crops that are needed. Honey bees had originally originated in Africa and when they came into higher northern latitudes they became to evolve into large colony sizes and build up excessive stores of honey to survive the cold winter (Kritsky). When Spring comes and bees begin to pollinate flowers, people tend to get in the way of the process so as a result bees will hurt the human. However, not all bees can sting. Female worker bees are the main ones that sting others (Kritsky). They serve as a line of defense so therefore will act as nature has taught them. For example, when my brother was younger, he went out into the backyard to search for some frogs since it had just rained the night before. While in the searching process he went under our deck that we had and started scrounging around for them. After awhile we suddenly hear a loud high pitched noise and it’s him running and crying from the bees that had just stung him. There were a bundle of flowers under the deck and he must have not realized that they were there considering his main focus was to capture the frogs.

The objective of this research is to gain knowledge and disseminate information in regards to the cultural practices in honey bee husbandry and the management of small hive beetles. The small hive beetle is known to be an occasional pest species to African honey bees, but they are more of a threat to European honey bees. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential effects of commercial pollen dough substitutes on the survivability and reproductive success of the small hive beetle. This new information will aid beekeepers through the process of selecting diets that are impactful in stopping the spread of SHB in honey bee colonies.

In centuries, the honey bee has a very important role in our agriculture. According to Watanabe, Honey bee approximately benefits $10 billion of crops, including almonds, apples, and alfalfa every year in the United State (Pollination Worries rise As Honey Bees Decline, 1170). In addition, The National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) had estimated 2660 million honey producing colonies in 2015 (2017). Based on honey bees’ behavior, they can expand nearly all habitable corners of the globe which made them highly adaptable species (Dennis, 80). With adaptable capability and high productivity, our beekeepers can able to maintain their life

Honeybee populations have been rapidly declining since before the 1990s, disappearing and dying from human causes such as pesticides and climate change. Natural pollinators such as honeybees are a necessity for cultivating finer crops such as fruits and vegetables, and without their help, it will not be economically feasible to maintain such food sources at current consumption rates (D.J.P.). With honeybees working to pollinate over one-third of food eaten by the world, the diminishing bee population presents questions surrounding the new pressure put on the economy to provide for. Similarly, it is uncertain what the cost of reversing this downward trend would amount to,

Most people don’t realize how important bees are to the world so I’m going to tell you guys a bit about bees.

The Western Honey Bee can be severly hurt by Sacbroad, a disease caused by a virus, and Varroa mites (Moore, Wilson, et al). Western Honey Bees do tend to have medicinal purposes due to their ability to make honey. According to medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, studies show that “since bees are as major cause of life-threatening anaphylaxis in sensitised individuals, homeopathy, a homeopathic remedy obtained from honey bees, can help treat bee stings and other insect bites, oedema, and other causes of burning and swelling, including cystitis, allergies and sore throat.” For commercial purposes, only A. mellifera and A. cerana have been used to gather honey. But, only A. mellifera has been used expansively for commercial pollination of plants and other crops. This honey helps consumers alleviate pain, allergies and naturally sweetens drinks. Honeybees have many adaptations for defense: Adults have orange and black striping that acts as warning coloration. Predators can learn to associate that pattern with a painful sting, and avoid them. Honeybees prefer to build their hives in protected cavities (small caves or tree hollows). They seal small openings with a mix of wax and resins called propolis, leaving only one small opening. Worker bees guard the entrance of the hive. They are able to recognize members of their colony by scent, and will attack any non-members that try to enter the

There are around 25 000 species of bees describes worldwide Michener (2007). Most information available comes from those bees that are integral part of human development and provide any kind of benefit to human societies such as honey, wax, pollen and even pollination services. Bees are important pollinators of flowering plants and most fruit plants. Only in the United States 75% of fruits, plants and vegetables produced annually are bee pollinated (Moisset & Buchmann, 2011). By 2009 around $11 billion profit was estimated by pollination services of honey bees, plus $3.5 billion by other non-Apis bees (Calderone, 2012). Crop production of apples, oranges, tomatoes, almonds, blueberries, among other depends on bee pollination for a successful

Abstract: This paper explores the roles of bees in their hives and dissecting their extremely sophisticated colonies, with a focus on how they pollinate and why pollination is detrimental to agriculture. In my research I discuss the causes of their declination, and what kind of preventative actions we can take as inhibitors and consumers to support them. This analysis draws upon primary and secondary sources including online journals.

During the past decade the presence of bee diseases, droughts and other variable weather conditions has reduced the supply of bees worldwide. In the United States for example, the past few years have seen bush-fires, droughts, the killer mite (Varroa destructor) and the Colony Collapse Disorder wreck havoc with U.S. honey crops by destroying nearly two-thirds of their colonies. This has lead to a market opportunity for other countries to sell their honey to the U.S., which happens to be the largest consumer (and 3rd largest importer) of honey worldwide.