Honey Bees Case Study

1181 Words3 Pages

Honey Bee Population Decline
Daisy Childs
11-20-14
Professor Garcia
ENG 1027

INTRODUCTION:
Apis mellifera, commonly known as the honey bee, are solely responsible for pollinating one-third of the world’s crops, and they are in danger of dying off, according to the article “Natures Dying Migrant Worker,” written by Josephine Marcotty for the Star Tribune. This honey bee population decline poses a huge threat to our environment, farmers, and economy. It is assumed by BBC News writer Zoe Gough in her article,"Wild Honey Bees: Does Their Disappearance Matter?" that all of the wild honey bees in England and Wales are gone. The worldwide eradication of honey bees may not be too far away. The reasons the honey bees are dying are linked to a
“Crop pollination is, by far, the most important and profitable of bee services.(The Economic Importance)” As bees go about collecting pollen and nectar for their hives to make honey, some of the pollen sticks to the bees’ fine fur. The bees will travel from plant to plant spreading the pollen where it needs to go so the plants will produce offspring. Foods such as the ones listed earlier, along with other national favorites such as avocados, cashews, and watermelon, will no longer be able to grow once all of the honey bees die, according to Christina Sarich in her article "List of Foods We Will Lose If We Don 't Save the Bees,” written for the website HoneyLove. This fact poses as a huge threat, not only on our economy, but also on our well being as a species. Fruits and vegetables should be half of what we eat everyday as found on ChooseMyPlate.gov, the nation’s recommended dietary allowance as approved by the United States Department of Agriculture, also known as the USDA. In a world that already has the extremes of some countries being obese and others completely undernourished, the globe can not risk having an extinction of honey bees, which is where we are

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