Introduction Honey bees are one of the world’s most fascinating insects. Although dangerous when provoked many people underestimate there economic importance into our global system. It is a well known fact that bees are great pollinators and are responsible for most of the food we eat but unfortunately the bee population has been in decline for a few years due to Colony Collapse Disorder also known as (CCD). There are many reasons for the decline in bee population. Some of the reasons are that the human population is evidently increasing at a demanding rate. So the need for more land to create property, demand in food is growing meaning an increase of pesticides.
(Packham.2015) elaborates on the importance of bee pollination explaining
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Software’s such as CFD and FEA used on solidworks combined with material testing in the university labs and garden tests helped us in achieving our final design solution which was to produce a small scale 3d prototype. The methodology, material selection and CAD design will be explained significantly within this report.
Project overview
Ultimate Goal
The ultimate goal is too develop an improved hive for monitoring bee’s conditions with minimal human intervention and closer to an ideal habitat of the bees.
Objectives
• To identify the specifications required for the improved beehive by producing extensive research existing beehive design, acoustic and thermal factors.
• To propose and critically evaluate preliminary designs, structures and materials of final product by conducting trade off analysis.
• To design and manufacture a prototype using CAD tools and rapid prototyping machine.
• To analyse the prototype through extensive testing including , material testing & FEA
• To propose an improved, more efficient and cost effective design including recommendations.
Section 1
Lifestyle and social behaviour of the Honey bee
The Apis mellifera honey bee produces the largest amount of honey. (Encyclopedia of Life, 2015) “The
Before we started researching this project we didn’t know how important bees are to our environment. In general, we can help solve this problem in our environment by limiting the use of pesticides. Creating regulations and laws limiting and controlling the use of neonicotinoid and coumaphos pesticides would greatly help the bees population. We can also reward farmers for practices that help wild bee populations thrive, such as leaving habitat for bees in their surrounding fields, alternating crops so bees have food all year long, and not using harmful
Research areas studying the potential causes for the colony collapse disorder include: effects of pathogens and parasites such as the fungi Nosema and the varroa mite, pesticides such as neonicotinoids, environmental limitations and resource availability. I would like to propose fundraising campaigns here in Illinois for these studies. Most importantly, I believe we can make a difference by simply making the public aware of the issues. I would like to propose a educational campaign that, with your assistance, informs the public and beekeepers about the issue of colony collapse disorder. This campaign will also urge the public to use pesticides wisely and at times other than in the middle of the day when honeybees tend to be foraging and pollinating and to grow pollinator-friendly plants. Thank you for you time. I hope that with your help we can get the larger public to become active in preventing a potential future disaster for our
Bee decline is an increasing issue in the United states of America. An article written by the University of Vermont reveals a map of over 139 troubled zones for the population of bees and why they might be endangered. The University of Vermont is a well-respected establishment when it comes to research and Agriculture.
What you may not know is that honeybees play a huge roll in America’s agriculture, whether it is pollinating alfalfa hay to feed your horse or pollinating that apple you eat every morning for breakfast. Honeybees pollinate about one-third of crops species in the U.S. (Vanishing Bees, 2008). Bees pollinate a lot more than you would think a few more examples are almonds, avocadoes, cucumbers and peanuts.
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 bee population is on a rapid decline, we must do something to help prevent them from undergoing extinction. Bee populations aren't just decreasing in certain regions, the population is decreasing in majority of the world. Heavy losses have been reported by beekeepers from various different countries like; Britain, Spain, Poland, Greece, Croatia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Portugal. (“Buzz Kill”) This shows that a decline in the bee populations are not only is it happening in the United States, but that it is also happening all over Europe because multiple countries are experiencing heavy bee losses. Although there are very detrimental losses in majority of the world, the US has also experienced huge losses. “Losses reached 60% in
Many industries rely in some way on the honey bee. Agriculture relies on the western honey bee for pollination. Honey and beeswax are both byproducts of the honey bee. Even the western honey bee itself has its own industry. In order to understand if the western honey bee is necessary to the U.S., it is important just how influential the honey bee is in these
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.
There are three types of bees in a hive; namely, the queen, worker bees and drones. There is only one queen per hive and her role is to produce more bees (4). This is done by mating with the male bees. After mating, the queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day (4). Drones are male bees and their role is to mate with the queen. Drones spend a considerable amount of time inside the hive; in addition, during early winter
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
The honey bee is the substructure of the human population. It is imperative that the world knows about the decline of honey bees and work together to save the honey bee population. Nearly one-third of the world's crops are dependent on honeybees, but over the last decade the black and yellow insects have been dying at an unexpected rate in the United States. Pesticides, disease, poor weather, and the stress of being taken from one orchard to another to pollinate different crops all play a role in the decline of the honey bee. The honey bee as a species is not in danger of extinction, but a large portion of our food supply is, because the honey bee no longer has the ability to support the industry of commercial pollination. Without honey
Since the mid 2000s, bees have mysteriously vanished and have not been returning to their honeybee hives and as years go by much of society has become unconscious to the situations occurring in our environment. Although, bees are small in size, they are big providers for sustaining our food system. The honeybee pollination is the key role in the development of food we humans grow and the overall relationship of bees is what helps us receive that food. Bees are clear indicators of showing how our environment is producing and by their extinction will
Each type of bee is crucial to the survival the hive, so let’s take a closer look at their features that help them survive.
Honey bees, feared by the misinformed and admired by the intelligent, are dying. The interest in bees from many environmentalists is not for a sudden cause, as this issue is not new to the world. Honey bees as a population have been in decline for years but have yet to reach the endangered species list anywhere in the United States except for Hawaii. Many people kill bees that buzz around joyfully, simply because they are afraid of being stung by them; however, a vast majority of bees do not sting and the others do not care. This unfortunate commonality is not even one of the top causes of the worldwide epidemic of honey bees. Although bees are jokingly idolized on the internet in pictures and videos as a result of a popular children’s movie, their population decline is in fact quite serious. Honey bees and other pollinators like birds and insects ensure the pollination of flowering plants and crops all around the globe. Not only do honey bees pollinate plants that produce the foods that humans eat, but they also pollinate trees that produce clean oxygen for Earth. Without honey bees, the world as we know it could soon end, due to carbon dioxide pollution and lack of farmable foods. The population of honeybees and other important pollinator-bee species is dwindling due to a dilemma known to scientists as colony collapse disorder (CCD) because of the use of bee-killing pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, the decrease of flower meadows in the world, and the general increase
Beekeeping isn’t just a hobby. It requires passion, knowledge and patience. If you give in to the temptation of having bees in your life, then you should get ready for it. This book will help you to get an idea about the basics of caring and inspecting bees.