Over the course of time, bees have been vital to the ecosystem as they continue to perform agricultural services for us. Humans and animals have benefited greatly from the role the bees play within the environment. For example, by pollination, they provide us food to consume; without the pollination to help the crops grow, crops would suffer tremendously. Not only do they provide us food, but their pollination saves the economy money unlike if humans were to pollinate by hand. However, hand pollination will be a consequence if bees were to go extinct, being disastrous to our economy. Another benefit of bees is helping the growth and fertilization of flowers. Although bees provide us with assistance, their population is decreasing at an alarming …show more content…
For example, one third of all of our food relies on their pollination (sos-bees.) They pollinate 70 of the world top 100 crops which accounts for 90% of the earth’s nutrition. Without their pollination 75% of all crops’ productivity would suffer an extreme decrease. Having crops decrease in large numbers would limit food supply and therefore cause an increase of prices for crops that relied on pollination to thrive. Fruits and vegetables such as apples, strawberries, tomatoes, and even almonds would suffer. Although we may not directly see their importance, bees pollinate the crops that are fed to livestock; what we depend on for meat. Therefore, not only would we have an increase of prices but we would be limited of meat, fruits, and vegetables too. However, besides providing food their pollination is needed for reproduction of wild plants. Around 90% of all wild plants rely on them to help reproduce. Pollination works by bees collecting nectar and pollen from a male reproductive organ; stamen, then visiting a female plant and applying the pollen onto the female reproductive organ; stigma. Once the pollen is rubbed off then fertilization of the plant is possible. However, without bees the reproduction of wild plants will start to decrease as well. Unless we provide solutions then we will be forced to pollinate by
Many plants rely heavily on bees as their main pollinator to reproduce. The main fear is that even though many flowers also rely on mammals and other insects to assist in the pollination process, bees are the biggest and most vital source of this life cycle. As the bees disappear the reproduction process of many plants does not happen as efficiently thus less plants are produced, this
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.
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
They have an impact to the environment, and us too. According to CNN, a leading news source, honey bees contribute,more than $15 billion in revenue(Pearson,CNN). $15 billion is a large sum, and with the death of more bees, the number might as well decline. In addition, they also pollinate flowers allowing for reproduction to occur. They pollinate crops as well, which in turn grows into the fruits and vegetables that we put in our supermarkets, and eventually our tables. In fact, according to the USDA Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, up to 130 fruits and vegetables are pollinated by bees (Death and Extinction). Furthermore, according to the Kathleen Merrigan, the previous Agriculture Deputy Secretary, the of health honey bees are correlated to the state of American Agriculture(USDA). With this information, it can be said that there is something wrong going
Bees provide us with pollination services for our agricultural crops. “Bees are the most important pollinators of our fruits and vegetables and flowers and crops like alfalfa hay that we feed our farm animals.” (Spivak) We rely on them so much that more than one-third of the world’s crop production is dependent on bee pollination. Without bees we wouldn’t have specialty crops like: asparagus, cantaloupes, cucumbers, pumpkins, cherries and blueberries. We also rely on the bee’s honey, “Made by bees regurgitating nectar and passing it back and forth in their mouths to one another before depositing and sealing it in a honeycomb, it’s intended use is for the bee’s winter food stores.” (Tucker) Honey is also valued in our economy, “Humans are quite fond of this amber liquid as well- the 2013 honey crop was valued at $317.1 million.” (Tucker) We need bees for their economic value just as much as we need their pollination for our crops. Honey
One third of our fruit and vegetables are pollinated by bees, and they pollinate around 70 of the 100 crop species that feed 90% of the earth. To put it simply, the human race can barely survive without bees. Sure, we would probably find ways to pollinate some crops without bees, but humans will never be able to do their job as well as they
Bees play an important part in the world’s food web. Much of the food we eat has grown because of bees. Bees travel from flower to flower collecting nectar to take back to their colony. In the process of visiting these flowers, pollen sticks to the bees—but some of it also comes off in the flowers. This activity of bees is the primary way that plants are pollinated. Some types of fruits and vegetables must be pollinated to produce food. Without bees, we would not have the variety of foods that humans and animals depend on.
Bees are essential to everyday life, without the pollination provided by them, crops would not grow as abundantly or healthily and wildlife would have less food to eat, causing their population to dwindle. They are immensely important to the delicately balanced ecosystem of the Earth, however their unfortunate reputation precedes them and people simply seem to be happy not to have to deal with bee stings.
Bee extinction is an important topic for the beekeepers to discuss. It could prove fatal if it continues over a period of time. These bees are decreasing by thousands every month and beekeepers are having to do double time on their work. Honeybees pollinate more than 90 percent of all crops so without bees food would decrease by approximately 90 percent. For every 3 bites we eat ⅓ of the food is pollinated by bees. Scientist call this The Colony Collapse Disorder. More than 15$ billion dollars a year in U.S crops are
Albert Einstein once said, “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” (“Einstein Once Said…”). After careful thought on this matter, this can be a scary concept to process. Millions of years have passed with the honey bee gracing the earth, and in fact, the honeybee is the only insect that aids in the production of food that is consumed by the human race (“20 Amazing Honey Bee Facts!”). Imagine going to a grocery store and there being no almonds to buy, a scarce supply of apples to choose from, and a very limited
Bees are so important. More important than we will probably ever know. Did you know that when you sit down to eat lunch or dinner a bee most likely made that meal possible? How would you feel if I told you that the population of bees was quickly declining and that millions of hives have died over the last few years? It's true, and this means that crop such as pumpkins, onions, apples, and strawberries will completely disappear because there will be no bees to pollinate the flowers of these plants. Live stock will die as well because the food that they eat will be gone. This means that we will be missing the majority of fruits, veggies, and livestock. If we don't have simple foods like these the human raise will slowly start to die out.
Over the last half century bees have been declining as pesticide use in agricultural and urban areas increased. Many growers are concerned on how they are going to pollinate there “Concerned bee researchers recently met to discuss the current pollinator status in North America and to publish a report about it. Since January (2007), there have been a number of reports in the media about the mysterious disappearance of large numbers of honey bees called colony collapse disorder” (Michigan State University, 2018). The worker bees are randomly disappearing and dying as they are going to search for
If you were anything like me when I was a kid you were terrified of bees. It was scary to think that such a little insect could hurt someone so easily. I would always run away screaming from them when I was little, hoping they wouldn't land on me. I’m embarrassed to admit I still do this from time to time. When I was younger, I hated them so much I wished that they would all just go extinct. Today, I hope my wish never comes true, my past self would be very surprised. Bees are one of the many animals that are endangered and are arguably the most important one. BBC (2014) states that “[Bees] are critical pollinators; they pollinate 70 of the around 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world. [...] We may lose all the plants that bees pollinate, all of the animals that eat those plants and so on up the food chain.” Bees play a vital part in agriculture and our environment, and letting them go extinct could greatly hurt the worlds’ ecosystem and agriculture. If bees go extinct many important, delicious foods would disappear such as honey, dairy, fruits and vegetables. It is said that this could initiate a worldwide famine and raise all the prices of food. This would also make it hard for cotton to grow, and malnutrition would become a huge problem. There is even a possibility that it would create a worldwide crash because many food industries would go out of business (Grimminck, 2016). If bees go extinct it would affect everyone, no matter where they live. This is an
Fruits, nuts, and vegetables are pollinated by bees. If we lost bees, more than 80% of the varieties of food we eat every single day could be gone. Since 2006 the loss of commercial honey bees has went up by 40%. If we do not start preserving the lives of bees, it could mean not only losing them but also major loss of our own kind. ⅓ of the food that we ingest on a daily basis depends on bees and other pollinators.
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