In the recent years, bees have been dying at alarming rates. The question arises, why are all these bees dying at an alarming rate? The answer lies in pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are widely used. These pesticides not only have been affecting bee populations, but have also been found killing birds. Approximately 95 percent of the insecticide winds up in the wider environment, meaning bees are easily exposed. Farmers spend around 2.6 billion dollars on this pesticide annually, without considering the detrimental effects on bees, worms, and birds, which are all vital animals in global food production. On June 23 in 2014, “President Obama signed a memorandum establishing the first-ever federal pollinator strategy and the Agriculture …show more content…
There are billions of pounds of pesticides that are produced annually, despite the research showing how dangerous this overuse is. In fact, “recent research has documented the fact that certain pesticides use may actually increase pest problems” (Pojman, 2017, p. 800). This further demonstrates how pesticides are generally harmful rather than helpful. There are multiple organisms which pesticides affect, including poisoning humans, domestic animals, bees, while also causing a loss in crops, reducing populations of natural enemies, and growing pesticide resistance. Specifically, in the case of bee poisonings, the overall death of these bees results in the loss of 135 million dollars each year. There is also evidence that recently there have been more bee poisonings since 1962, since highly toxic insecticides are being used, while greater amounts of insecticides are being dispensed. Pesticides are also deployed through aircraft, allowing drifting problems. Additionally, insecticides are used by many populations other than farmers, including “golf-course managers, gardeners, and other landowners” to simply deal with their daily unwanted pests that will damage their flowers and crops (Williams, 2014, p. 33). If these insecticides are sprayed near a bee’s habitat or nest site, they will be harmed either immediately or subtly in regards to their behavior. Even worse, there are certain pesticides which treat seeds and thus allow it to be present in the plant’s tissue. This means that bees are being exposed to pesticides through pollen and nectar. In a study by Guseman, the goal was to discover which combinations of compounds were causing bees the most harm, so that a solution could be found. According to the study, bees are exposed to potentially dangerous pesticides in two distinct ways, through “in-hive miticides to control parasites and through the foraging activity of adult bees who collect pollen
From around the year 2006, many bee farmers in the U.S.A and some parts of Europe started reporting sharp declines in their bee stocks. The reason for this declining numbers was not known and therefore scientists named it colony collapse disorder (CCD). Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a not a very old phenomena and it became popular when large number of bee colonies started disappearing. The disappearing was mysterious since no dead bees were found in or around the beehives after a colony’s number was reported to have gone down or vanished. This prompted a lot of study and investigations to uncover the mystery and to establish possible remedies. Among the many reasons for the causes of the CCD was the use of harmful and dangerous pesticides. Timbrell (2002) provides a solid foundation on the effects of toxins in the body of animals with an aim of providing a scientific solution towards the problem. This paper focuses its study on these pesticides with an aim of establishing the effects of the toxins found in the insecticides that could be affecting the bees.
On the contrary, President Obama “unveiled a plan aimed at stopping the rapid decline in bee and butterfly populations” (“On May 19”). His plans are to reduce the death rate of bees which in turn will help out the agricultural production. He also plans to clear land in order to give the bees a bigger environment in which to repopulation and will ensure that no bees are harmed in the process (“On May 19”). The president sees the devastation that the decline could cause and is trying to combat the issue. The European Union has banned three pesticides in order to combat the decline but “have fallen short of providing adequate safeguards for the re-propagation of bee colonies”(“Bee research”). Governments are taking notice of the problem ahead yet still we are until to achieve the full support of all
By implementing a policy that bans the registration of neonicotinoids, policy makers aspire to return pollinator populations to normal levels through recovery through direct public action, specifically through a command-and-control policy. Due to varying opinions and sometimes misinterpreted literature, pest management has proven to be difficult and complex. Having to take into account a large number of input and output factors has limited the research conducted, though a clear link between neonicotinoid use and pollinator survival has been uncovered, debate still thrives on how to manage the use of such chemicals on crops and other applications.
To most, the honeybee can be an annoying insect that has a powerful sting. Yet, the honeybee is so much more than just another insect. The honeybee is arguably the most vital component in the development of our food crops. With roughly 90 percent of our food crops dependent on the pollination of our honeybees, our food system, agricultural development, and diet rest on the work and well being of these buzzing insects. Unfortunately, since 2006 there has been a major decline in the population of honeybees, and has gotten progressively worse because of colony collapse disorder. The first reported increase of CCD was documented in November 2006 in Florida. By February 2007, several states began reporting major losses associated with CCD, ranging from 30% to 90%. A little over a half decade later in 2012 the attention paid towards CCD has grown substantially with more research being done as CCD continues to get worse. The main culprit for CCD, as research has suggested, is the use of pesticides on our food crops. With major corporations such as Bayer making millions and millions of dollars in profit each year in the distribution of pesticides, it is no wonder that nothing is being done to stop this practice despite evidence linking the use of pesticides and the drastic deterioration of the health of honeybees. With the continuation of the use of deadly pesticides and the vital role bees play in the pollination and development of our food crops, both the environment and our economy will be effected directly and face the potential for catastrophic results.
The best action the public can take to improve honey bee survival is not to use pesticides indiscriminately. In particular, the public should avoid applying pesticides during mid-day hours, when honey bees are most likely to be out foraging for nectar and pollen on flowering plants. In addition, the public can plant pollinator-friendly plants—plants that are good sources of nectar and pollen such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, joe-pye weed, and other native plants.
All around the world honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate, according to the documentary Vanishing of the Honeybees. This film features two commercial bee keepers and their fight to preserve their bee numbers. David Hackenburg was the first commercial bee keeper to go public the bee population was decreasing. Approximately two billions bees have vanished and nobody knows the reason why. Honeybees are used all across America to help pollinate monoculture crops like broccoli, watermelon, cherries, and other produce. Without the honeybees the price for fresh and local produce would be too much money. According, to this film commercial bee keeper’s help fifteen billion dollars of food get pollinated by commercial
The initial reactions to a swarm of honey bees are fear and distress. Honey bees are frowned upon because of the annoying noise they emit and the pointy stinger on their abdomen. To the mainstream population, honey bees are just pesky insects whose primary goals are to sting random individuals and make honey. Honey bees are not another species of pesky creatures that deserve to be fumigated into extinction; they are insects with fascinating lives. The honey bees that buzz noisily around an office have a much more complicated life than annoying people for petty amusement. The honey bee’s meticulous lifestyle inside of their colonies, their vital need for communication with each other, and their species-dependent form of fertilization makes them
The worldwide eradication of honey bees may not be too far away. The reasons the honey bees are dying are linked to a number of things. The most common causes are linked to industrial agriculture, parasites/pathogens, and climate change, according to the article entitled “The Bees in Decline” on GreenPeace’s website, SOS-bees.org. However, bee-killing pesticides pose the highest risk to the pollinators (the Bees). Honey bees are not the only form of pollinators.
...ortation of plants, fruits, vegetables, and animals. Indiscriminate pesticide use kills the good with the bad. Long term and wide spread pesticide use poisons underground water sources, which, in turn, poison plants, animals, and humans. And, finally, by our uninformed actions, new super races of pests continue to evolve and create even greater dangers than the original.
Bees are known throughout the world as dangerous threats and pests to humanity. Bees when left alone are very important to the growth of all the worlds’ crops and plants; they affect the growth of all the crops plant just as much as butterflies and other pollinators. Humans rely on bees for honey and pollination of plants, but what most agricultural workers don’t know is that they are working on the extinction of the common honey bee by doing simple things in their every day jobs on the farm. With the use of pesticides and other harmful things such as an unnatural diet and cramped living spaces, bees can go extinct and without a large group of pollinators our plants ...
The lives of humans and honeybees have been intertwined for millennia. For at least 8,000 years, humans have sought honey for applications in disciplines ranging from medicine to the culinary arts. But while humans love honey, honeybees provide a much more valuable service: pollination. As the world’s most prolific pollinator, honeybees are essential to the reproduction of many plant species, which in turn benefits other animals and plants. In fact, humans heavily rely on honeybees to pollinate our own food source, a service that is worth billions of dollars a year. Unfortunately, the honeybee population is in a severe and prolonged decline, often in the form of colony collapse disorder, in which entire colonies are seemingly abandoned by adult bees overnight. Honeybees are an indispensable component of modern agriculture, and a failure to discern and address the many causes of honeybee population decline – both manmade and natural – could have disastrous consequences for the environment and human society.
Lawrence, Timothy, and Walter S. Sheppard. "Neonicotinoid Pesticides and Honey Bees." Cru.cahe.wsu.edu. Washington State University, Nov. 2013. Web.
As time has progressed, there has always been an overarching need for high amounts of crop production throughout the world. With the rapid rate of population growth, the need for crops and other sources of nutrients is only increasing. In order to meet these high demands and increase yields, farmers and other agriculturalists have started implementing the use of pesticides. These chemical mixtures are being used in order to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate any pests from destroying growing crops. However, using pesticides on crops can create massive amounts of pollution, negatively affect an individual’s health, and can spark biodiversity loss within an ecosystem. According to Michael C.R. Alavanja, “Over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used within the United States (US) each year and approximately 5.6 billion pounds are used worldwide”. With all this in mind, it is clear that pesticides should not be made available to farmers and agriculturalists, and should
Over the past decade bee populations have been dropping drastically. A 40% loss of honeybees happened in the U.S. and U.K. lose 45% of its commercial honeybee since 2010. This is a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in which worker bees from a beehive abruptly disappear in a short time. These data are definitely not meaningless since bees are a crucial part of the reproductive cycle of many foods. The impact bees have on the agriculture and the environment is far more crucial than we may think. Crops rely on bees to assist their reproduction and bring them life. Bees are renowned in facilitating pollination for most plant life, including over 100 different vegetable and fruit crops. Without bees, there would be a huge decrease in pollination, which later result in reduce in plant growth and food supplies. On the other hand, without the pollination progressed with the assistance from bees, the types of flowers According to Dr. Albert Einstein, “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination…no more men”. That’s why bees’ extinction affects people more than we ever think, and could even forebode the doom day of human race.
Pesticides are contaminating the Earth’s water supplies. There are seventeen pesticides found in twenty-three state’s water supplies right now. Scientists at Cornell University conclude that 99% of pesticides miss the intended source and find their way into the water, air and soil. Most of the pollution isn’t strong enough to create an immediate impact on humans so the wildlife is the primary target to these contaminates. Animals such as the European Starling birds are constantly being tested and found that they are greatly affected both behaviorally and psychologically.