Steam Patched Bumble Bees

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.

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.

When I first read through Nathanael Johnson’s article discussing the fall of bee populations in relation to a catastrophic unearthly demise, I kept an open mind. With my personal opinion about the bee crisis stifled, I read on to see if Johnson could aptly convince me of his argument. Unsurprisingly, he failed.

Global Research of CA has found that just within the last five years, “30% of the national bee population has disappeared and nearly a third of all bee colonies in the U.S. have perished.” (Statistic, Global Research Of California)

The colony collapse disorder has been threatening the United States for many years. Reports show excessive numbers of honeybees dying off. According to the Bee Informed Partnership and USDA’s annual survey, during the winter of 2013-2014, the mortality of managed honeybee colonies was 23.2. The previous winter’s report showed a loss of 30.5 percent of the colonies and thus, the winter 2013-2014 results might show some improvement. However, beekeepers persist that the still declining honeybee colonies are becoming too low for colony collapse disorder to be considered a solved issue. Approximately two-thirds of the beekeepers reported losses greater than the acceptable 18.9 percent mortality rate, thus deeming the losses greater than what is economically sustainable. The issue

The article begins with the statement of how falling population in bees will lead to a decline is crop production for the united states of America. This statement was announced at the American Association for the Advancement of Science or for short the AAAS. The United States relies on these bees for pollination as it is a big part of the economy bringing in over 3 billion dollars annually. It is mention how it is possible to reverse the decline in wild bees by habitat restoration. Bees are a huge part of the crop production in the united states which helps with the income and rotation of crops. In the article maps of troubled zones where placed in over 139 counties in agricultural regions of California, Pacific Northwest, the upper Midwest and Great Plains, West Texas, and Mississippi River Valley. All those places are known for their specialty crops such as almonds blueberries and apples. Those specialty crops

This Act was to provide programs to protect species identified as either endangered or threatened. It also mandated Federal agencies and departments to protect endangered and threatened species in their own operations, as well as work with State and local agencies to further promote conservation and protection of identified species.

In August of 2015 a petition was filed by the Sierra Forest Legacy in hopes of classifying the California Spotted Owl as an endangered species instead of a threatened species. As a result of the petition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is conducting a 12 month scientific evaluation before making a determination (Sierra Forest Legacy,

The article “Hivey Leaguers” discusses problems affecting the bee population in the United States ranging from chemicals and insecticides to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Colony Collapse Disorder occurs when the worker bees disappear from the hives, leaving behind the queen and the nurses to take care of the immature bees. This newly discovered threat to bee populations caused widespread panic in the entomologist community and lead to a race to find the cause, and the relative cure. Though this new disorder was a danger, the real bane of the bees was a much more sinister, and domestic, threat.

Individuals kill bees every day. Some ways that bees are killed by people are with pesticides such as ‘Round Up’ to protect crops. While Round Up specifies the product is safe and will not harm bees, there is chemical found within the containments called 4-dioxane. This chemical is revealed to cause tumors in vermin and exterminate insects. As insignificant as it may seem, every small decision such as using Round Up, helps contribute to mass extinction. The first

Bees are important pollinators of many plants in the ecosystem (2). Recently, the decline in the number of bees in North America and Europe has shifted the research focus of many ecologists towards pesticide use (2). The impacts of pesticides on bees and other pollinators can have a major influence on honey production and biodiversity.

Invasive species have a variety of impacts, many of which are unpredictable. The Africanized honey bee (also known as the “killer bee” in the media community or apis mellifera scutellata among scientists) provides an excellent case study of how even an intentionally introduced invasive species can become uncontrollable and problematic.

The long term goal is to remove it from the federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. The reclassification criteria will be met when a minimum of 27 metapopulations are established within at least 13 recovery units across the butterflies’ range. The minimum requirement of 27 metapopulations can be comprised of 19 viable normal, and 8 viable large metapopulations. The large metapopulations support 6,000 individuals and the normal size metapopulations support 3,000 individuals. Total delisting of the species would be considered once a minimum of 29 metapopulations (13 viable and 16 large viable metapopulations) have been established within at least 13 recovery units and are being managed consistent with the recovery plan. Actions needed to fulfil this recovery plan are listed as

The rusty bumblebee, is one of 47 varieties of native bumble bees in the United States and Canada, more than a quarter of which face risk of extinction. Help protect the bumblebee by not killing them ,taking down their homes, and don't spray them with bug spray.

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