While sitting outside on a sunny day, I saw bees flying around me. I quickly got up and started to walk away. I was a little angry they had ruined my peacefulness. I muttered to myself "I wish bees would die." A few months later in my biology class, we had to read an article about Honeybees and how they pollinate. I was very interested in how these insects contribute to our world. In the article, it also mentioned about the bees vanishing. I instantly desired to get this important information out to everyone I knew. When people think of Honeybees, they may imagine memories of family picnics being interfered by these creatures just like I used to. Bees are feared by many and have some negative connotations. I want to educate these people and others who many not know the importance of Honeybees in our world. Although they are small, Honeybees allow for human life to flourish. Honeybees play an important role in our world, so we need to acknowledge this and take action to conserve them.
Honeybees affect our agricultural system both directly and indirectly. Their doings affect our daily lives. They directly help us through pollination of our food crops. Many of the foods we eat are thanks to Honeybees. In fact, "About one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants and honey bees are responsible for 80 percent of this pollination" ("Honey Bees and Pollination"). Honeybees able us to eat a variety of foods from nuts to fruits. Peaches, strawberries, onions, broccoli, and kidney beans, just to name a few are all pollinated by Honeybees. Honeybees are the unsung heroes of the agriculture industry. As a matter of fact, "More than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, alfalfa, and almonds" ("Why We Need Bees: Nature's Tiny Workers Put Food on Our Tables" 1). A lot of these foods give us the essential nutrients to live on.
Almost every food item we eat in a day comes with the help of Honeybees. Think about it, most Americans start their days with a nice cup of coffee, which Honeybees pollinate. Then, they go on to eat a bowl of cereal. The cereal most likely will contain honey, cottonseed oil, or sunflower oil. Then, they will put milk in the cereal. Along with dairy milk, some other milks they might use would be: almond milk, coconut milk, and cashew milk. All of these ingredients are from plants pollinated from the Honeybees. For lunch we may have a salad and for dinner we may eat potato soup. According to the article Why Are Honey Bees Important to Crops and Farmers? "One out of every three bites of food we eat is a result of pollinators like honey bees". We don't realize it when we are eating these foods that we might not have them without the help of Honeybees.
Honeybees also affect us indirectly through many other ways. The average American diet is full of animal products. These products are thanks to the livestock. However, what we feed our livestock consists of mostly grass, buckwheat, and alfalfa. In order to get these foods to cattle, Honeybees have to pollinate these crops. So, essentially, when someone eats a steak or a piece of chicken, they are also eating it as a result of the Honeybees. "Honey bees can also pollinate clover and alfalfa, which are fed to cattle, so there are implications for the meat and dairy industry too" ("Why Bees are important"). Other animals that we depend on, also depend on Honeybees.
Honeybees also affect us indirectly through manufacturing. Some of the products we use daily contain ingredients that the bees help produce. According to the article Why Bees are important "Honey bees play a significant role in the pollination of other important crops such as cotton and flax". Every clothing item has a tag that states what material it is made of. The most common material is cotton, a crop that a Honeybee will pollinate. Not to mention, Honeybees provide us with ingredients that we use in our medicines, beauty products, and other household essentials.
Currently the Honeybee population is declining at a steady rate. This phenomenon is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Colony collapse disorder is causing many bee hives to fail. The most common cause of this is chemical exposure to the Honeybees. When farmers plant crops, they will also often wash their fields will insecticides or pesticides. The farmers don't realize that while doing this, they are causing Honeybees to become exposed to these foreign chemicals their bodies aren't used to. The Honeybees will not directly be affected, but it will have an internal effect on them. The bees will go to pollinate these crops and unknowingly will acquire these chemicals inside their bodies. In Fact, "...three neonicotinoid class insecticides -- clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam -- were the main culprits in weakening the bees' immune system" ("Colony Collapse Disorder Impact on the Economy"). The bees become weak and will fly away from their hive to die alone. These worker bees will not provide for their colony and the whole hive will eventually fall, contributing to the colony collapse disorder phenomenon.
Another way colony collapse disorder can work is through parasites. The same farmers put the chemicals in the crops. Then, the Honeybees immune system will weaken and parasites will kill the bees. The most common parasite known to be factor of colony collapse disorder is the Varroa mites. Honeybees are already prone to be attacked by these mites. So, when their immune system weakens, it puts them at a susceptible position to be affected by these parasites. These mites are external parasites who will suck the blood out of the honeybees until the bees eventually die. According to the article Honey Bee Disorders: Honey Bee Parasites, "Most infested colonies die within 1 to 2 years if the beekeeper does not take actions against Varroa mites". These microscopic mites contribute significantly to colony collapse disorder in Honeybees.
Some of the least contributing factors to colony collapse disorder are due to environmental stressors. The world is not how it used to be a couple of decades ago. Now, there are few places where Honeybees can go undisturbed. The most obvious use for Honeybees is to get honey. Well, during transport from one place to another, some of these Honeybees die. They become stressed and angry from all of the movement that they can't control. They are contained in a small space with nowhere to fly because nets cover them. During the winter, these conditions worsen. The bees become too anxious and weak causing many to die. Also during transport, they again can become exposed to mites, parasites, and chemicals that they've never encountered before. Another environmental stressor is the lack of nutrition these bees are getting. Honeybee keepers like to feed the bees artificial foods which can alter their immune system. In cities, the bees will drink from polluted water and get sick from this. When the worker bees get sick, they can't provide for the whole colony, so the colony will collapse.
In spite of the current state of the honeybees, we can find ways to conserve them. Many people have already began to advocate for Honeybees since the early 2000's. However, it is not too late to start doing your part to save the bees. Anyone and Everyone can contribute to this cause, even if you do a little part. We as the people, need to take action locally, nationally, and globally.
We can help conserve Honeybees in our local cities and states by spreading the word. One easy way to get the word out is to start the conversation. Many people don't know about the importance of bees. So, educate them. If you are having a conversation about politics or local issues, bring up Honeybees. People may think that you are weird, but explain it to them. After all, if they don't know, they won't do anything about it. Another way to sneak it into a conversation is to bring it up while you are doing your everyday routine. For example, if you are grocery shopping with your family, you could say "Wow! I can't believe Honeybees provide us with many of the foods here". Most people may be thrown off and ask you to tell them more because they are curious. Another way to get people involved is to create a club at your school. Many schools already have an earth club or an environmental club, so you could join this and bring it up as an issue. One way to get the word out in your community is to post it on your social media. Today, social media is a big outlet for advertising and speaking your opinions. You could reach audiences by posting articles, pictures, and writing blog posts. A smaller, yet effective way to get the word out about Honeybees is to hand out stickers, brochures, pins, or pens. You could put catch phrases or jokes on it to help get other people to talk about the cause.
We can help conserve bees on a national level in several ways. One big way is to research more about the Honeybees. We can petition for universities to conduct deeper research about Honeybees and colony collapse disorder. We many not personally have the resources to research more and find more information, but these colleges can help. Also, because most people aren't experts in the field, we can get professionals to advocate for the Honeybees. Becoming part of a news team of doing journalism can also help. Joining online news sites and freelance journalism can also help spread the word. Another way is to bring it up to the authorities. You can email local organizations and get them involved in funding research to help the Honeybees.
We can help conserve Honeybees on a global level in various ways. Asking our government officials what their stand points are on colony collapse disorder will help start the conversation. People respect authorities, so when you have a conversation with them, they will find it more important. We can also help educate the people about Honeybees by using reputable conservation organizations to tell people about the issue.
All things considered, Honeybees are very important. They contribute to our daily lives. Honeybees help the world flourish by providing us with pollinated crops. Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon that is causing many of these bees to vanish. They are starting to slowly decline in population. We need these Honeybees to provide for us through pollination. Honeybees can be conserved locally, nationally, and globally. We can create a chain reaction which can help save the lives of these unsung heroes of nature. Honeybees play a significant role in our world, so we need to acknowledge this and take action to conserve them. Without Honeybees our world wouldn't function the way it does now. However, some Honeybees are dying, and we need to save them. We need protect them because without them, our lives will change.
