Why we Need Bees
Introduction
Visualize going to the store with a list full of enjoyable, ripe fruits and veggies. Only to get to the store and you see nothing on your list, only corn, beans, and rice! Why scientists are cautioning us that this could be a possible situation in our future. Why should we care, how do bees help us? What we can do to help save the population?
Why scientists are cautioning us that this could be a possible situation in our future. Scientists have done bee autopsies and developed numerous theories why the bee population is diminishing. The cell phone theory was the first to be tested. Another theory is that Varro mites have attacked the bees again like in the 1980s, Pesticides is another theory. Another possibility
There are many things believed to be the cause of bee endangerment. Of the survey conducted, 18% believe the cause is from chemicals used on plants such as pesticides; 25% believe it is because people do not like bees and kill them; 13% believe it is from habitat destruction; 25 % believe it is from natural causes. Overall, the general population is correct with regard to why bees have become endangered. Lauren Bennett says the main cause of the rapid decline in bee populations is from natural causes such as global warming and colony collapse disorder, which is when bees abandon their hive and causes the hive to die as well. Marla Spivak, says it is from parasites. Henry Samuel says it is from neonicotinoids, which is a pesticide that is similar to nicotine.
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
The economic worth of global food production supported by animal pollination is at a whopping $265 billion dollars. Bee’s themselves are responsible for the harvest of crops such as nuts, melons and berries, and plays varying roles in the production of citrus fruits, apples, onions, broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, courgettes, peppers, aubergines, avocados, cucumbers, coconuts, tomatoes and broad beans, as well as coffee and cocoa. ( Yes, that’s right without bee’s you wouldn’t be able to relax to/enjoy the sweet taste of, of a hot cup of chocolate after a long winter day). but with bee’s in consistent decline what does this mean for a growing population. Fewer bee’s would mean most likely result in higher prices for fruits, and vegetables. Less food available for mass consumption. So what can we do? In order to reverse the damage done to our bee populations, it is important that we now as a community make steps to encourage ecologically safe farming practices. That means start grocery shopping regionally, and locally and when the holiday/winter season is over and spring rolls around reduce the everyday use of pesticides, and other stuff while
According to the National Geographic News website, the domestic honey bee population has decreased 50% in as many years (Roach, 2004). Many reasons are blamed for the decrease in honey bee numbers including diseases and pesticides. Scientists have given the decline in honey bee population phenomenon a name, Colony Collapse Disorder. While some experts maintain that Colony Collapse Disorder is a nuisance and not a catastrophe, it is a serious problem affecting domestic honey bees worldwide.
The second reason is environmental pollution in particular highly industrialized countries, such as China suffer from ecological disaster when it comes to the number of bees. The main role is played by the improper management of
The previous die-offs were again observed from 2006 onwards at a much larger scale. The alarming drop in the bee
The reading passage argues that the nest fossil, dated 200 million years ago, found in the state of Arizona has no relation with did bees and provides three reasons to advocate this theory. However, the professor found this argument by the passage unconvincing and repudiates all three reasons.
Do we need honey bees? Honey bees are very important to us, they just do not give us honey, they give us food. We need honey bees to produce fruits and vegetables, they take the pollen to the plants, so they can grow and produce food for us. Some people may say that we don't need honey bees, but I think that we Need honey bees.
That's why the United States Department of Agriculture provided about three million dollars to help reseed plants around the country such as clover and alfalfa to give food and pollination crops to the bees. After this wasn’t as much of a success they decided to migrate bees by putting the hives in trucks and take them across various regions in order to pollinate an estimated forty billion produce crops. The CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) company came out and explained the actions of the Department of Agriculture and what is happening. They spoke about the other pesticides like nosema ceranae which also damages the bees and their larvae. The bad winters and global warming has had a negative impact on the bees as well which is hard for us to control. Scientists are still doing studies on Australia because they use pesticides in their crops and they have not experienced a loss of bee hives which is what we have yet to discover why and once we do it can be a stepping stone to get control and figure out a guaranteed solution to the
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
In 2016 the honeybee's population decrease by 33%. Honeybees produce honey and contribute to many of our foods. Each year there is a population that is lost. Some researchers claim that humans are involved in the declining in the population. The three main reasons that cause the decline in population, that are not directly related to humans are colony collapse disorder, varroa mites, and the climate change.
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 biggest threat to our food supply is losing bees, bees are very important because they help us provide many of the things we use in our life daily, Like different kinds of food, jobs, homes, drinks and more.they also help our environment by pollinating our flowers and giving us their honey.
Colony Collapse Disorder not only affects honey bees, but they also affects wild bees. Richard Gerber quotes “Many people would be surprised to know that 90% of the feral (wild) bee population in the United States has died out” (Gerber). With 90 percent of wild bees extinct, this astounding number really makes you wonder if this goes above and beyond the issues researchers are looking into. Is there something else that researchers and scientist may be overlooking for there to be such a diminishing population of wild bees? Gerber says that since 2007, 22 states have reported tens of thousands of honey
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