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. The frightening truth is our little pollen buddies are losing their numbers by the millions. Bees are essential to the ecosystem, mainly due to the pollination that they provide to many crops ( “ First” ). Bees pollinate during most of their life which is why they are so vital for most crops to produce seeds. They have hairs on their legs which, gather the pollen on the crops and allow for viable seeds. While some plants can pollinate through other natural ways, a study in the United States concluded that “39% of crops were highly dependent on bees for pollination” ( “First” ). Considering the amount of food that we as …show more content…
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
Ultimately, we are at a crossroads when it comes to the crisis of CCD and the health of the honeybee. It has been clearly stated just how catastrophic the loss of the honeybee will be to our food system, which in turn will have dire consequences for our economy and environment. If the main culprit is truly pesticides, then CCD can be stopped because the problem is manmade. Yet, if it turns out that CCD is something that we cannot stop because we fail to pinpoint exactly what is going on, then the future looks to be a rough one. In essence, the health of the honeybee holds the key to our economical and financial prosperity.
Initially, I didn’t care much about bees until after I received this assignment. Although I may be allergic to bees, they do help my everyday life. I don’t want food prices to go up because we can’t save some bees. We spend trillions on protection, when we have no war. How about take a few million to save the bees, and possibly save man.
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
Introduction Did you know, that one of every three bites of the food eaten worldwide, depends on pollinators, especially bees, for a successful harvest? These small and hard working insects actually make it possible for many of our favourite foods to reach our table. In addition, honeybees are known to be the most important insect/pollinator that transfers pollen between flowers and plants, and the word “pollination” is used to describe the service of providing bees with pollinating crop plants. However, under the condition of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD: honeybee decline) which is increasing each year, honeybees and other pollinators are in sharp declines across the United States and all around the world. Beekeepers were first alarmed about the mysteriously disappearing bees in the United States during 2006, when healthy bees were leaving their colonies in search of pollen and nectar, however never returning back to their hives.
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).
Scientists have estimated that one third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination (Wikipedia), which 80% of it is accomplished by Honeybees. The fruits you’re eating or love to eat would suffer if bees weren’t around. It’s true that there are other pollinator insects, but bees are like we said; the most efficient. Honeybees take role in pollinating many fruits as well, which includes apples, cherries, mango, peach, pears, watermelons, and berries. Many vegetables and flowers also need bee pollination to survive. Bees decline will not only affect us human, but other livings things as well, flowers in the first place, will perish, because certain flowers depend on only the pollination of bees. Try to imagine a hill with a garden of flowers all that are perished because bees are not around for their duty.
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.
Some may see the bees as just a buzzing nuisance out to sting and chase them around the yard, what many don’t realize is that the whole world could turn into a barren, lifeless scene without the bees. No plants, no food, possibly not even humans would survive. The topic I will be exploring is wether or not bees are vital to our survival. Put away all thoughts of zombie apocalypses, or sudden major earthquakes: bees should be the main focus because they could do even more damage than a zombie apocalypse, and what’s worse is that the possibility of bee extinction is closer than you think. According to Elite Daily, it was reported in 2014 that the bee population is already less than half of what it was just 69 years ago (Haltiwanger, 2014). So,
The honey bees started to vanish rapidly without any reason in the year 2006. Honey bees are vital to the life of humans, plants, and animals. In the article “The Importance of Honey Bees”, Maria Boland writes, “Honey bees pollinate 80% of the earth’s plants, which converts to 1/3 of what humans eat.” The world should look into saving the honey bees because, without them, plants would not be pollinated, animals would die, humans would have a hard time finding things to eat, and the world would lose staggering sums of money. In the book The Backyard Beekeeper, Kim Flottum writes that Albert Einstein once said, “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man. Because the honey bee is important to all life on earth, our government should work to help educate children and adults on the honey bees, regulate pesticides sold, and help fund research towards protecting the honey bees.
Pollination is one of the most important roles played by insects in the natural world. One great contributor to this natural phenomenon is the everyday Honeybee. Honeybees survive off the honey made from plants nectar. They also help us humans survive by pollinating flowering plants, allowing them to produce 1/3 of the fruit and vegetable crops consumed. Honeybees are mysteriously declining in their numbers, there are many different theories or ideas as to why this is happening. Some experts say microwave radiation from our mobile devices and satellite towers. Others suspect the pesticides and herbicides. Most humans see the misunderstood bees as big stingers with wings, but do not take into consideration that the honey they put in their tea that morning came from the honeybee. Also, nonnative bee species such as the African honey bee threaten native species, humans and livestock when introduced. Bees are one of the biggest contributors to the survival of thousands of species of animals including humans, yet they are one of the smallest and fragile species in the animal king...
Beekeepers in the U.S. and Europe have been noticing that their bees are disappearing. When the bees go to pollinate, as usual, they do not return and are never seen again. This is very bad because of how important the bees are to our environment, they pollinate our plants. Some may say that this lacks significant importance but, without bees to pollinate, plants can not produce fruits, nuts or vegetables. Many things have been said to have caused this decline in bee population, such as, C.C.D., G.M.O., Radiation, Global Climate changes, Pesticides, and Invasive species. This is what I have found on the topic.
The collapse of the honey bee population is an issue that is rarely talked about, and few realize the effect it has on each of us personally. In America the honey bee is responsible for pollinating almost every food that is seen in the grocery store. The population of this interesting insect has been on a decline for over a decade. According to United States Department of Agriculture, “The total number of managed honey bee colonies has decreased from 5 million in the 1940s to only 2.5 million today”. The debate is not if the honey bees are truly disappearing, there is enough evidence to be found that there is a decline in total population. The true question is why are the hives collapsing? Scientist have devoted many hours trying to find the one true cause, no clear answer has presented itself. Amongst the beekeeping community three major reasons for the collapse of the honey bee are the most accepted, which are pest and diseases, the use of poisons such as herbicides and pesticides, and lastly the human impact such as bad beekeeping practices and urbanization.
Honey bees are interesting and work very hard during their lifetime. Some say we owe our survival to the honey bee. They help pollinate everything from ornamental flowers to our food supply. They have become very efficient and effective at pollination unfortunately, honey bees face many dangers in their daily life to survive. They have to defend from predators in flight as well as in their hive, not to mention the wide use of pesticides. Honey bees also produce delicious honey that some use for medicinal purpose and human and animal food production. Honey bees are important to our society, from evolution through the pollination process. Unfortunately, the bees face many dangers, however, humans need them to help pollinate crops and assist
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.
Have you ever thought about our honey bees? Some people think they're a nuisance but these hardworking small insects make it possible for your favorite foods to reach your table. In the winter of 2006 a strange event happened with the honey bee hives across the country. Millions of bees vanished from their hives. The disappearing bees left billions of dollars of crops at risk and it threatened our food supply. So today I will be talking about The honey bee and answering the following questions: First,what is the honey bees purpose in life, secondly how we are harming them and thirdly how the honey bees help us in our daily lives and their importance.