This article gave me a lot of scientific background about bee and statistical information about their population changes, migration patterns, and specific seasonal behaviors. All of this key information about bees is being altered by outside factors. A major factor being climate changes and the warming of areas where bees live, work, and migrate. Because of so many bees dying, farmers may have to find ways to pollinate their crop themselves, which will cost a lot more money, take a lot more time, and be very difficult to do. Over the years, humans have forced the honeybees to adapt to certain things, but now the climates are changing so rapidly that the bees are not able to keep up any longer and have no evolved to accommodate for this. Too
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.
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)
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.
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
Studies have shown that the percentage of the amount of bee deaths have majorly increased. During past years surveys were sent out to commercial and small-time bee farmers on their total annual loss of honey bee colonies. During the 2012 and 2013 time period the annual total loss of bee colonies was at a peak of 45% of all their colonies. The 2013 and 2014 time period dropped to 34%. Then the 2014 and 2015 time period took a 7% percent jump leaving it around 41%. The most recent and influential is the 2015 and 2016 time period, from the past year it took a 3.1% percent jump to 44.1%, and this is of 48 states. At this rate we could be losing tons of bees and that sweet honey. But why are these bees dying so quickly, some might blame it to the
All over the world bees have slowly begun to die out. Specifically, honey bees have begun
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.
Climate change is another factor that is affecting bees. Due to how temperatures are rising, the cycle of bees collecting pollen and flowers blooming are not synchronized, leading to both organisms not receiving what they need. Both the plants and the insects have relied on each other for millions of years and to have it suddenly change might endanger all life on earth.
The bees are dying because of humans. Global warming, habitat destruction, pesticides, and air pollution are just some of the ways that humans are actively destroying the global bee population. The insecticide neonicotinoids are the most widely used, and also one of the most hurtful. Neonicotinoids can affect the bees’ ability to navigate back to their hive, and also can lead to a decline in queen bees. The insecticides weaken the bees’ immune system which allows them to be much more susceptible to getting sick, and dying. However, honey colony collapse Disorder is not exclusively caused by neonicotinoids, viral pathogens and parasite mites are also fatal to the bee population. “Wild bee habitat shrinks every year as industrial agribusiness
According to www.epa.gov, 11/7/17 the main idea about the subject is discovering why bees population decreases, and the reason for why bee colonies disappear. When there is an epidemic queens and young bees remain. Relativity abundant honey and pollen gets reserved. Many changes happen to the habitat when the bees forge. Inadequate forage and poor nutrition also occur. Increased loss due to invasive various types of mites cause a lot of problems too.
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
Bees have existed for about 100 million years, and they have played an important role in the pollination of plants. A long time ago, pollination was crucial to the balance of the food chain. Without it there would have been no food for the herbivores and they would have become extinct; so no food for the meat eaters. They have been doing their job for millions of years, but recently scientists have observed problems within the colonies which could have negative effects with in our ecosystem.
Research from a team of Florida State University scientists are helping to explain a changing global climate and a decrease in the bumble bee population around the world. A study published in Ecology Letters, researchers are examining three highland bumble bee species in the Rocky Mountains. They found out that for some bumble bees, a changing climate means that there isn’t enough flowers to go around.
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