Manouhcka Castor
Professor O’neal
EVR 2002
19 February 2015
Africanized Honey Bee What is the first picture that comes to your mind when you hear people talking about invasive species? For me, it was some type of exotic looking animal. Although, the truth is that in reality these invasive species essentially look like they belong in the habitat that they are taking over. By definition, “an invasive species is defined as an organism (plant, animal, fungus, or bacterium) that is not native and has negative effects on our economy, our environment, or our health” ("Invasive Species"). After my research, I believe that the Africanized Honey Bee is certainly a threat to the economy, but there are many ways to avoid them so it is not necessary to
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As stated previously, these bees are known for taking over other bees’ colonies. In that case, it is said that it is possible that many species of native bees have or will go extinct as a result of the environmental domination of these introduced bees (Ojar). The native bees of the Americas are outcompeted by the Africanized bees due to their aggressiveness. Not only are they aggressive to other bees, but they are also harmful to humans and animals. Due to the incompetence of many children, elderly, and handicapped individuals, they seem to be the ones that are in jeopardy of a toxic occurrence (Ellis). Even though Africanized Honey Bees have the same venom as regular bees to sting, their attack is much more violent and can result in death of the victim. As a result of the U.S. beekeeping industry being notified and ready for the African Honey Bee invasion, it has not agonized widespread destruction (Zettel-Nalen). They have managed hives that are said to weaken the genetic factor of the bees that will eventually lessen their aggressiveness, prevent them from taking over the European hives, and make them less fascinated to areas where humans exist ("Africanized Honey Bees"). Besides, Africanized Honey Bees benefit the tropics by directly influencing 25-30% of the reproductive success of the plants …which depends …show more content…
Bees are r-selected species, which means that they have a short life span, so it would not be essential to spend money and time trying to eliminate them when we can just continue to evade them.
Works Cited
"Africanized Honey Bees." Utah County Beekeepers. Utah County Beekeepers Association, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Ellis, Jamie, and Amanda Ellis. "Africanized Honey Bee - Apis Mellifera Scutellata Lepeletier." UF IFAS. University of Florida, Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"Invasive Species." Environment Yukon. Government of Yukon, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Ojar, Christina. "Africanized Honey Bee." Introduced Species Summary Project. Cloumbia University, 01 Mar. 2002. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Zettel-Nalen, Catherine, Jamie D. Ellis, and Jerry Hayes. "African Honey Bee: What You Need to Know1." University of Florida IFAS Extension. University of Florida, Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Feb.
The bees never seem to catch a break which is putting the bees under “stress” which is a factor. Furthermore, when they are pollinating all these different plants some are not nutritious as others, for example cucumbers aren’t as healthy as some of the other plants but there is still a demand for them, so the bees still have to work and eventually become unhealthy if they aren’t getting the right nutrients. Another factor is pesticides, which has many different points of view but overall it has come to decided it is not the pesticides themselves that are killing masses of bees but it is lowering their immune system and making it easier for them to get sick, for example with the common parasite Nosema. Nosema is a parasite in the digestive track of the honey bee that attacks the entire hive and can eventually wipe out the whole hive. The effects of the pesticides are ultimately never letting the hives reach their maximum potential, which in the end could render the hives weak and lethargic. There are so many pesticides out there it is hard to tell exactly what component in the pesticide is hurting the bees. It is recently found that the inert ingredients used often to boost the effectiveness of the pesticide are actually more harmful than the actual toxic ingredients
Their most tangible impact is due to their aggressiveness. When threatened, Africanized Honey Bees will swarm in great numbers and chase predators (or anyone who accidentally stumbles upon their nests). If caught, the victim of the attack will suffer a deathly number of bee stings. Along with harming human life, the bees also compete with other be species, and end up displacing native species. They are also very likely to breed with native species, resulting in more and more aggressive hybrid species, which are more susceptible to winter weather, more likely to abandon their nests, and worse pollinators. These traits that are passed down from Africanized Honey Bees are detrimental to the economy surrounding wax and honey production because they decrease honey
Concern in relation to global bee populations has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. The primary cause of this has been a large scale population decline of both wild and domestic varieties, this can be seen within the US (Fig.1) as honey bee population experienced a 59% reduction in colonies between 1945 and 2008 (van Englesdorp et al. 2008). These findings have been supported elsewhere with experts observing similar changes in the UK with 3 of 25 bumblebee species native to the UK having become extinct since 1950 (Goulson et al. 2008). The significance of these findings are great; partly due to the importance of bees in areas such as pollination and honey production, as well as other implications of the data such as ethical issues.
Africanized Honey Bees are another South American import. European and southern African honey bees were interbred
Since 2006, bee colony numbers have been declining at an alarming rate, about 30% per year. Scientist do not have a pin pointed reason this has been occurring, but it is likely due to a combination of poor nutrition, habitat loss, and pesticides. As the human population’s need for space and food has risen, bee population has decreased. It is imperative that we work to end this issue because without bees our food supply will collapse. Earlier in the month, The US Fish and Wildlife Service granted 7 species Hawaiian native yellow faced Bees endangered status.
After the 1990s, the Africanized honey bees started shifting the honey industry in ways unimaginable to farmers. Because of their aggressive behavior, the Africanized honeybees is left alone. However, farmers cannot collect the same amount of honey as they use to. This hurts their business as farmers cannot keep up with the demand for honey. States who are fully colonized with the Africanized honey bee have created educational programs and control practices in efforts to protect people and other animals living in the same area these killer bees inhabit. States like California have spent $3.9 billion dollars on reduction managements and pesticides in order to keep the Africanized honey bee population down. From an environmental standpoint, these bees are pushing the common worker bee to the brink of extinction because of their dominance and overpopulation. Even though these bees change the environment in negative ways, their continuous, quick migration has positive impacts as well. Many Africanized honey bees pollinate flora ten times faster than your regular European worker bee and if tamed it could produce more honey than worker bees. These bees may be known as killer bees, but if we learn to tame them, honey farmers might have a chance at increasing their
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.
If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.
Insect pollinators play a vital role in the majority of terrestrial ecosystems and the survival and productivity of many wild and agricultural plants depends upon successful pollination by insects [1,2]. In a 2005 assessment of the potential impact of pollinator decline, it was estimated that the total economic value of insect pollination worldwide amounted to €153 billion annually, representing 9.5% of the total value of world agricultural production of human food in that year [3]. The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the world’s most economically
Honey Bees Rapidly Evolve to Overcome New Disease, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, ScienceDaily.com, August 19, 2015
Apis melifera is commonly known as a Western Honeybee that serves as an important economical insect universally. A. melifera is known to produce honey, royal jelly, pollen, and wax. The western honeybee originated in Africa and dispersed to Northern Europe, Eastern India, China, and the Americas (Kleae, 1). The species Apis melifera is mostly recognized for their storage of honey over long periods of time including the winter season. Western honeybee contribute many important factor to the environment, the production of food, and pollination will be explained in this paper including their predation, prey and other economic factors.
The Africanized honey bee (otherwise known as the killer bee) is one of the most aggressive honey-collecting insects in America. Unlike other bees, which sting only when absolutely necessary, the killer bee will attack any potential threats with the full force of its hive.
It is believed that the bees have appeared on Earth about 125 million years ago in conjunction to Angiosperms. The tribe Meliponini or native bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae) comprises about 300 species that in addition to obtaining food resources in plant species, they use them as a shelter. In Brazil these bees are found in all ecosystems, and the Caatinga, despite environmental limitations, comprises the largest number of stingless bees worldwide. The presence and the quality of the arboreal vegetation present in an area is essential to the establishment of the stingless bees, showing an urgent demand for research on these animals and their interactions in the places where they occur. Therefore, this chapter aimed to evaluate the prevalence of
This is because it is difficult to distinguish between the bees if you do not have the necessary knowledge. The Africanized bees that are commonly known as the ‘killer bees’ are difficult to be differentiated from the normal honey bees. Hence, the Bee removal is best
For once in history, the introduction of a foreign species has had paramount importance throughout their evolution for many terrestrial ecosystems. Apis Mellifera also commonly known as the Western Honey bee, is a vital component to global biodiversity. The honey bee provides ecosystem services of considerable ecological significance for the reproduction of plants and for the pollination of many economically important crops. Although the place of origin of Apis Mellifera is unclear, North America was introduced to the Western Honey bee around 1622 by European colonists (Weber, E. 2012). Amongst the eight species in the genus Apis, Apis Mellifera is the most widely valued honey bee in the United States(citation). Apis Mellifera live in nests, called a hive, and typically house 40,00 bees, which are divided into three different types of adult bees: Queen, Worker, Drone(Winston, M. L., 1987). Majority of the bees living in the beehive are Worker bees that provide majority of the fundamental processes needed to sustain the beehive. Honey bees consume processed nectar (honey) and pollen (bee bread) which are both found in Angiosperms (flowering plants). Nectar, which bees convert to honey serves as a primary source of carbohydrates (Winston, M. L., 1987). This provides honey bees energy for flight and product for colony maintenance. Honey bees will die within a few days if they do not have a surplus abundance of honey (Winston, M. L., 1987). Pollen is