Why are Honeybees Important?

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Recommended: Effect of colony collapse disorder

As time progresses, an uncountable number of bees are dying off. Though not the only pollinators, honey bees, who pollinate over 75% of the world's crops, are irrefutably essential for our way of life. CCD, one of the leading problems in the bee world, is an especially tricky problem because different studies suggest different answers. “This isn’t a case of one cause, one effect” (National Geographic).With everybody pointing fingers at Colony Collapse Disorder, the race has begun to figure out the cause, and steps of prevention, that need to be taken to avoid it.
Searching madly for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, many scientists, as well as colleges, beg for funding to help aid in research. All is not lost however, because the scientists may be heading in the right direction. Researchers have discovered that fungicides alter bee behaviour. “fungicides are used to control things like fungus on apples, and weren’t expected to have an impact on healthy bees” (USnews). This was a huge shock in the scientific world because fungicides were not meant to harm insects at all. “fungicides, which we didn’t expect to harm insects, seem to have a sublethal effect on bee health” (nbcnews)
While fungicides do not directly kill bees, fungicides do cause the bees to die nonetheless. When a bee ingests the pollen of a flower that is laced with fungicides, the bee becomes much more susceptible

to parasites and disease than a bee that were to ingest pollen without fungicides. “But according to the study, healthy bees that ate such fungicides were much more likely to become infected with parasites” (USnews). What makes the research so unique is the data concerning fungicides, which as of now have always been considered safe towards bees....

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...mites if it is found in enough time, but even with all the help we can give to bees, it is useless if they are already poisoned by the pollen from which they feed.

Works Cited

Usnews.com/news/blogs/at-the-edge/2013/08/07/bee-colony-collapse-are-more-complex-than-we-thought

greendustriesblog.com/greendustries/2012/04/12/bees-and-survival-of-the-human-race

news.nationalgeographic/news/2013/13/120510-honeybee-bee-science-european-union-pesticides-colony-collapse-epa-science/

nbcnews.com/science/honey-bees-trouble-blame-farm-chemicals-study-says-6C10736740

aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/eneficials/beneficial-60_pollinators-_honey_bees.htm

Wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/winter-honey-bee-losses/

Science.time.com/2013/08/09/the-trouble-with-beekeeping-in-the-anthropocene

http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/pennsylvania/local-blog/the-importance-of-honeybees

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