Pollinators are very important to the environment because many plant species rely on reproduction to be carried out by pollination1. Bees are dependent on plants for pollen and nectar and in return, are the most common pollinator of plant species and around 90 percent of plants require pollination by an animal7. Bees are used in farming, both for pollinating crops and for producing honey, and the estimated value of bees to the United Kingdom is £400 million per year9. Plants are the primary producers in many food webs and, as so many are dependent on pollination in order to reproduce, a decline in pollinators would have a detrimental effect to whole ecosystems. Therefore, the declining numbers of pollinators, particularly bees, are a cause of concern because of the environmental knock-on effects. High declines in adult bee numbers in some colonies have been reported and this decline is known as colony collapse disorder6. These declines are higher than normal and can go unnoticed by bee keepers because the bees do not generally die in the nest so the decrease is not immediately obvious. The problem addressed in this paper will be the decline of bees and the effects this decline has on the environment. The solutions proposed for this problem are increasing research, managing farming and spreading awareness. It is important to conserve the bee populations before the problem of decreasing pollinator numbers becomes too great to fix. Proposal The first step in bee conservation would be to accurately determine the cause of death of bees in the United Kingdom. This would use about 30million pounds to set up research labs across the country. Stricter guidelines for bee keepers would be developed so that dead bees can be analysed by resear... ... middle of paper ... ... Lipkin, W.I.. A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder. Science. Volume 318, Number 58848, 6 September 2007, Pages 283 – 287. 4. Emerson, E.. Honeybee death suspects spotted. Science News. Volume 177, Number 13, 19 June 2010, Page 15. 5. LaJeunesse, S.. Common crop pesticides kill honeybee larvae in the hive. Penn State | News. 27 January 2014. 6. Oldroyd, B.P. . What’s Killing American Honey Bees? PLoS Biology. Volume 5, Number 6, 12 June 2007, e168. 7. Winfree, R. . The conservation and restoration of wild bees. Annuals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Volume 1195, 3 May 2010, Pages 169 – 197. 8. Willmer, P.. Ecology: Pollinator – Plant Synchrony Tested by Climate Change. Current Biology. Volume 22, Issue 4, 21 Feb 2012, Pages R131 – R132. 9. "Why Bees Need Help." Bumblebee Conservation Trust. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Honey bees not only make honey, but they also help pollinate crops worth more than $15 billion a year in the U.S. (NRDC). These small animals are extremely important for providing ecosystem services essential for sustaining biodiversity (Sandrock et al., 2014). However, since the mid-1980s, the honey bee populations have been suddenly declining. This decline is referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) (Wu et al., 2011). There are numerous factors that result in CCD. One of the major suspected reasons is due to the exposure to residue of Neonicotinoids, found in nectar and pollen of the flowers. Neonicotinoids are insecticides that lead
Think for a moment of a world without bees; a world without our buzzing friend. They might look like they barely do much to help our ecosystem. However, bees are a vital part of our agriculture and this makes it vital that we keep them around. The bee population decline in recent years is troubling for both us and our little friends. As their friends, we must do all we can in order to ensure their survival which in turn will ensure our own.
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.
Our bees are dying at the highest rates ever recorded: 42 percent of the United States bee colonies collapsed in 2015 (NRDC, 2015). 50 to 80 percent of the world's food supply is directly affected by honeybee pollination (Pennsylvania Apiculture Inc., 2011). Reduced crop pollination will make food more expensive and can even make some crops harder to grow successfully (Worland, 2015).
Over time, many bees have been disappearing and their population has been decreasing drastically. These ubiquitous species are mostly known to produce honey, however they do much more than that. Bees are an essential part of the environment and play a huge role in agriculture. They pollinate flowers and about ⅓ of the food we eat depends on bee pollination. Not only humans depend on bees too, but animals do too,and we depend on most of those animals. The pesticides used on flowers and other factors that have contributed to the decrease in the population of bees need to be stopped before this problem goes too far out of reach. This decrease can only be described as Colony Collapse Disorder and it will have severe consequences if it is not controlled.
With devastation around the globe, it is no wonder that bees have only recently become an importance. Consequently, the bees’ current situation is now considered a global issue, risking the health of our ecosystem and health of the human race. There is a need for people to recognize just how significant the decline and possible extinction of bees will affect us, and the impact it will have on not only the ecosystem, but also the high demand of key crops, fruits, and vegetables. In the articles “Bees in Decline” by Reyes Tirado, Gergely Simon, and Paul Johnston, and “Bee-Ware Investigating Bee Colony Decline and its Ecological Effects on Human Health” by Daryl A. Mangosing, both authors have imperative evidence to support their main ideas.
... middle of paper ... ... 1. 1 (Winter 1994): 119. 16. What is the difference between a '' and a ''?
The disappearance of honey bees is baffling scientists everywhere. Although most people see bees as useless annoying insects, they play an important role in the eco-system. Without bees, agricultural business would cease to exist, so it is vital that bees are saved. Currently, about one-third of the honey bees on the United states have disappeared. It seems that within a few days of having a good, healthy colony of bees, most of the adult population disappears. They can't even find any bodies near the hive. Scientists nicknamed this as CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder). Bees have been disappearing all over the globe. Countries such as Portugal, Poland, Central America, and South America have all reported cases of the phenomenon. When bees get sick, they sacrifice themselves and leave the colony to die to lessen possibility of spreading the disease or affliction to the rest of the hive. What is unique about CCD though, is the sheer number of bees leaving the hive.
78, No. 1, pp. 113- 29, No. 1 -. 2. What is the difference between a.. 1995, pp. 113-117. 291-301.
Kephart, Beth. “The Secret Life of Bees.” (undetermined). Book (Summit, N.J.) 20 (2002): 61-62. Reader’s Guide Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web.13 Nov. 2013
United States. Department of Agriculture. Honey Bees and Colony Collapse Disorder. Washington D.C.:, 2013. Web. http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572.
Toxic pesticides also play a large role in the ever-decreasing number of bees. Farmers spray their crops with harmful toxins such as neonicotinoids, substances banned in numerous countries such as England, France, Germany, and Switzerland, are sprayed onto crops (You Asked: Are the Honeybees Still Disappearing?). While humans are unaffected by these chemicals, they prove to be deadly to both insects and bees, and these pesticides are still legal in the United States. The disappearance of bees can also be linked to the loss of habitat, which causes nutritional issues....
The relationships between plants and pollinators play a key role in our ecosystems. Pollinators are animals, such as bees, butterflies, moths, bats, flies, wasps, and birds, that transfer pollen from one flower to another. Pollination is the movement of pollen to the male or female part of the plant. This leads to fertilization and the production of seeds and flowers. They maintain and establish ecosystems. “Pollinators are an integral part of our environment and our agricultural systems; they are important in 35% of global crop production” (NCRS 2013). “Pollinator declines can result in loss of pollination services which have important negative ecological and economic impacts that could significantly affect the maintenance of wild plant diversity,
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.