A Feint Buzzing in the Flowers
The mystery of disappearing honey bees
When you hear the soft buzz of honey bees busy among flowers and bushes, one thing that probably pops into your mind is the sweet honey they produce, or how they can sting you if you get too close to comfort. And while all that is true, what people sometimes tend to forget is that bees are great pollinators. Pollinators assist plants in reproduction by transferring pollen grains between male and female parts in plants. This is important because it can help lead to fertilization of seeds and produce foods such as fruit for the human consumption.
Honeybees are crucial to humans, especially here in the U.S. where they help pollinate one third of the founts, vegetables and other foods we produce. Recently, though, the honey bee population has sharply declined in the U.S. Their existence is needed to help produce fruits, vegetables and other food. but in the last few years they have been declining.
The documentary Silence of the Bees investigates the phenomenon, which started to become apparent in 2006–2007 when beekeepers noticed a decline in their hives and which has resulted in the disappearance of millions of bees across the country. Sixty percent of hives were lost in 2008. One of the reasons assigned to the disappearance is colony collapse disorder or CCD, in which worker bees flee the colony, leaving behind the queen, nurse bees and some food. Scientists are looking into the phenomenon, but so far haven’t been able to pinpoint the exact reason. They cite multiple factors that could be coming into play, including new diseases, pesticide poisoning, changes to habitat and stress on bee’s from the location of the hive.
Since the early stages of the die-off, there have been efforts to bring back healthy bee populations. In June 2014, President Obama initiated the National Pollinator Health Strategy to promote the health of pollinators. It’s goals include restoring bee colony health to sustainable levels by 2025. One the methods promoted by the strategy is evaluation pesticids to curb use of any that many harm bees and other pollinators.
Although this is a worldwide event, it hit California hard because the state produces so much of our food. a UC Berkeley study points out that almond trees are particularly vulnerable to the loss of honey bees. In California, it takes about 1.4 million colonies of honey bees to pollinate 550,000 acres of almond trees. It takes huge populations of pollinators like the small honey bee to take care of the crops we grow. Without them, life on this planet may cease to exist. We rely on the bee’s pollination to help the plants we need for food and a greener environment to reproduce .
There are things that you can do to help the bees survive. One is being aware of the pesticides and toxins being used in your gardens. Numerous pesticides potentially harm pollinators like bees or butterflies, including imadacloprid, a common chemical used in dozens of farming and household uses. Another way to help bees is to have lots of flowers in your garden. It’ll help give bee’s more food and, in turn, they will help carry pollen. Flowers like Bee Balm can attract bee’s but also other animals like butterflies and hummingbirds.
While scientists continue to seek answers to the population decline of honey bees and are still studying the effects of pesticides, environment change and stress to the bee’s health — their is some good news. Since the initiave to help bees got underway, the total hive losses have dropped from 60 percent to 31.3 percent.
Organizations such as the Honey Bee Conservancy are working to sustain healthy bee populations and provide information on ways you can help.
