Honey Bees: Unsung Heroes of Our Ecosystem

The Buzz As a society, we are aware of our current environmental issues but as individuals, we do nothing to aid the process. We are knowledgeable of the problem in our ecosystem, such as pollution, lack of clean water, the ozone layer declining and deforestation but we just simply choose to ignore it. The media does a proficient job at illustrating the necessities that our environment is needing but lacks on the smaller picture. As the general public, we don’t reflect on how insects, such as bees, play a massive role in our environment. For generations most of us have taken honey bees for granted. Most people probably didn 't even realize how dependent we are on the honey bee or how many crops they pollinate. About a hundred important crops

As many argue that it’s a myth, Global warming can be a factor. This can cause many modifications to our environment, like causing flowers to bloom earlier or later than usual. When honey bees come out of hibernation, the flowers that provide the food they need to start the season have already bloomed. Another reason for the declining amount of bee’s is the pesticide use on farms (Why We Need Bees). Some toxic pesticides meant to kill pests, can harm the honey bees needed for pollination. Many pesticides are banned in other countries because they harm bees, but they can still be found in the United States legally. Parasites such as harmful mites are also the cause for the decreasing amount of this. Additionally, habitat loss brought about by development, abandoned farms, growing crops without leaving habitat for wildlife, and growing gardens with flowers that are not friendly to pollinators are another reason for the Colony Collapse

The distinction of these bees has been a rising issue that is getting attention from farmers, bee keepers, and large corporations investing in farms. Honey bees are a very important factor to nature, planting and the growing produce. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these under-appreciated workers pollinate 80 percent of our flowering crops, which create one third of everything we eat. The honey bee’s extinction has a chain effect on all of our lives. One in every three bites of food depends on bees for pollination, and the annual value of pollination services worldwide are estimated at over $125 billion (Judge). Without bees, the alfalfa that cows eat would not be pollinated. When cows would not obtain their main food source, then they would also start to die off. This would limit our food supply even more due to lack of dairy and beef products. Ultimately, this chain effect might even end with our extinction as well. As you can witness, the honey bee is a necessary insect to our survival. If we do not react to this casualty quick enough, it will be too late to save the bees. Prices for these now limited foods would rise enormously and would be bought quickly. Bee keepers and farmers could possibly lose their jobs. One third of our food supply would disappear (Packham). A Cornell University study estimated that honeybees annually pollinate $14