Jacob Sligar
11/27/13
period 5
Plight of The Bees
Bees have been recognized as special, even sacred by many human cultures. For example the ancient Egyptians revered the Bee as a sacred animal in their culture. If we do nothing to prevent the decline of the bee population then the bee will become extinct. If this happens then us as Humans will drop in our population so severely we might go extinct. I strongly believe that one of the reasons for the bee decline is the management stresses that are put on them, another reason is if we lose our bees than we as humans will lose about 15$ billion dollars in increased crop value each year, and the final reason is the environmental stresses .
Firstly, bees are being transported long distances and intermingling with species that are unknown to them and dying off. For example there are huge companies that are taking bee colonies and taking them to fields and releasing them to pollinate the whole entire fields. This process would be ok if it did not kill many bees before the bees actually reached the fields where they are being taken to pollinate. This shows us that companies are taking bees away from their natural habitats and put into a waiting area from there they are then taken to the fields to pollinate. In this process For example it “ is well known that significant stress is caused to bees when transported over long distances.” This process of the the bees being shipped over a long distance won’t only just irritate them but will most likely lead these bees to intermingle with bees from all over the world helping spread diseases and mites between the bees killing them. Then because they have so much stress built up they are already tired by the time they get there to pollinate, but the shipping services already know this and give them a special kind of food that gives them enough energy to pollinate for a very long time.
Secondly, crop value will lose 15$ billion dollars in crop value each year. For example, “about one mouthful in three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from [the] honeybee population.” this shows us that we as humans rely on the Honeybee for about ⅓
of every bite of food we eat. this shows how severe our problem is and as another fact almond trees completely rely on honeybees to pollinate them. About 1.4 million honeybees are used each year to pollinate the almond trees in California. Another example is, “California farmers over the past 5 years ranging from $360 million (1985–86) to $648 million (1988–89).” This shows how us as humans rely on honey bees not only for food primarily but as income for farmers to help grow their food. This huge amount of money can help get even more research on how to help the bees and find ways to protect a huge beneficiary to our food supply.
Thirdly, there is too much environmental stress and pathogens that are out there that make the bees die. For example, “ The pesticide class neonicotinoids...has been accused of being the cause of CCD.” There was a survey to reveal the effects on the bees that have been exposed to the pesticide. The survey came back and showed that there was 170 pesticides present in the bees. The most commonly found out of all the pesticides were coumaphos. This pesticide has been made to kill certain insects and to eliminate them by interfering with naturally occurring enzymes called cholinesterases. these enzymes are essential for proper working of the nervous system in both insects and humans. This affects the bees because if he bees come in contact with it which is how you get the pesticide in you, you will most likely die unless you treat it immediately. With bees they do not have this luxury of getting it treated immediately. This pesticide is mainly to kill insects to stop them from harming livestock and crops, which coincidently kills the main pollinator for our crops the bee.
In conclusion, we as the Human race need to protect and make sure the bees survive because without them we are no more. So, do not just sit and read this, but take action and help out any way possible to save the bees.
Works Cited Page
No comments:
Post a Comment