The bees are dying at rapid rates
By Mallory Rendon
Humans need bees to keep the earth green. However, with them dying by the billions according to the Planet Bee Foundation, this may be at stake.
Unfortunately, there is no singular reason for the rapid decline of bees, but rather a plethora of issues. Below is a breakdown of what pollination is, why bees are important to that process, why they are dying, and what we can do to reduce the drastic rate that they are dying at.
What is Pollination?
Pollination in this context is the process in which bees gather nectar from different plants, getting pollen on them in the process. They then transfer that pollen from where it is produced on a part of the male flower called the anthers to the female receptacle called the stigma. Once received, the pollen fertilizes the seeds in the ovary to eventually produce more plants, fruits and veggies.
Why are bees important?
Bees are the most effective pollinators. Greenpeace states that as much as “80 percent of worldwide pollination is performed by Honey Bees.” Bees can pollinate up to 2,000 flowers a day! In fact, according to the Planet Bee Foundation, around 90% of the majority of plant species count on bees to pollinate so they can reproduce.
Bees live practically their whole lives collecting nectar from flowers to provide food for the other bees. While they are collecting that nectar, a lot of pollen rubs off on them because their bodies are the perfect texture for pollen to stick to and spread to other plants. Thus, while other pollinators such as birds, bats and other small mammals exist, they don’t spend nearly as much time pollinating as bees do. These other animals also lack some of the advantages that bees have.
Bees have a sticky-textured hair that grips pollen better than any other pollinator. In comparison, birds have a far silkier coat, and while it can still manage to latch on to pollen, the sticky and fine grains of hair on a bee catch much more.
Why are they dying and how do we stop it?
The simple answer is a combination of pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution and global warming. While there are other factors at play, these are the main causes. So what do we do to make their death rate go down?
Pesticides
While pesticides can be helpful to get rid of pests, their toxins unfortunately also kill bees. It is best to only spray them when necessary, in as little of an amount as possible, and to spray them during the evening because bees go back to their hives around sunset time.
Drought
A drought means that there is a lack of water and that plants cannot grow and produce nectar for bees to survive on. A way we can contribute to preventing and reducing the severity of a drought is by being mindful when using water. If you overpour water, give it to the plants around you.
Habitat Destruction
There are disruptions to the bee’s environment all the time when cutting down trees, knocking down beehives and using harsh chemicals. Additionally, if you find a bee colony in a place they should not be, there are many professionals that can come and safely relocate them.
Nutrition Deficit
“If the worker bees die early, because of poor nutrition, that leads to a shortage of food in the colony, and the young bees have to take their place as foragers … The young bees are physiologically not ready to do that kind of work but are forced to work in the field, and it has a cascading effect,” said Dr. Gordon Wardell.
With that being said, something as little as keeping your yard full of healthy plants can provide local bees the nutrition they need.
Air Pollution/Global Warming
Good air quality is vital for bees, and when we burn fossil fuels, this worsens the air quality and temperature.
We can improve our air quality and reduce global warming by minimizing our electricity usage, finding alternative transportation methods to gas-powered cars such as biking, walking and utilizing public transportation; washing your clothes with cold water and hanging clothes out to dry as opposed to using your dryer as frequently. However, the most effective way to accomplish this is by being more politically active and advocating for environmental issues.
Bee expert and founder of the Bee Raw Honey company, Zeke Freeman, says that humans do not take bees seriously. This is not to say it is because we do not care, but rather we are uneducated about what they do for us and see them only as insects that sting.
“Bees pollinate over a hundred fruits and vegetables — we’re talking about strawberries, broccoli, apples, melons, pumpkins — I mean really basic fruits and vegetables that we eat every day,” he said.
What does an ideal environment look like for a bee to be able to work effectively?
According to Orkin honey bees thrive in natural environments, but when we take a look at the cities where there is a lot of construction and fossil fuels being burnt, this results in unhealthy conditions for the bees.
What would the world be like without Bees?
When the majority of worker bees disappear in a honey bee colony this is called colony collapse disorder, in other words, CCD. This is terrible because once the worker bees die the queen bee is left and only a few nurse bees care for the young immature bees but obviously a few nursing bees is not enough to care for a large number of young bees.
When the worker bees disappear in a large amount from their bee colony, this leaves immature young bees to fill in and do the work but of course, they really can’t do it as well as the worker bees because they are too young and are still learning. This leaves plants, veggies, and fruits short of pollination, which also means fewer plants, veggies, and fruits.
Although bees may not seem as big of a deal since they are so tiny, it’s a fact that they are very much vital to our ecosystem. Everyone must push to stop the bees from dying in order for them to pollinate and keep the earth healthy and green by reducing these factors: drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, and global warming
Helpful Links:
-We’re losing billions of bees each year to many complicated causes, including viruses, climate change, decreasing crop diversity, and habitat loss. Amid this population plummet, however, one threat remains under our control: pesticides.
Bees — including honey bees, bumblebees, and solitary bees — are very important because they pollinate food crops. Pollination is where insects move pollen from one plant to another, fertilizing the plants so that they can produce fruit, vegetables, seeds, and so on.
Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors — pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming, and more. Many of these causes are interrelated.
Honey bees are clearly vital parts of our ecosystem, acting as highly efficient pollinators of our food crops as well as for wild flora. We need bees to keep our crops and earth healthy, but in recent years their numbers have been decreasing by the billions.
