The decline of honey bee populations in the past years has been one of the underpublicized environmental crises likely to have real world consequences for humans. Food will suffer if we can’t fix the declination of bees. Pollinating bees have a role in One third of the food we eat. Researchers say that the chemicals affect honey bee brains, which make it hard for them to find their way home. Scientists are saying that the chemicals are keeping the honey bees from supplying their hives with enough food to produce new queens.
There could be many reasons for a bee population decline. One reason is the queen bee dying or a food shortage. One cause of bees dying is the spraying of pesticides on crops. Bees pollinate 90% of the world’s plants like fruits, vegetables, and nuts. It is the start of a food chain that also has wild birds and animals.
Insects and other pollinators have been in serious decline around the world since the last few decades. Scientists think it is from an increasing use of pesticides, changing habitats around cities, and a combination of new diseases. Insects like bees, moths, and hoverflies pollinate around one third of worldwide grown crops. The collapse in the global bee population is a major threat to crops.
People think that the causes of bee decline are bacterial infections and poor nutrition in farming methods. The declines of bees are called colony collapse disorder. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) means worker bees from a beehive or honey bee colony mysteriously disappearing. European beekeepers observed a similar decrease of bees in countries such France, Italy, Spain and a list of other countries.
As early as the 1900s, bee colony collapses have occurred and been documented in the U.S. Reports show this behavior in hives in 1918 and 1919. It was called the mystery disease by some people. It eventually became more known as disappearing disease. In 1965 it was reported that hives that were part of the disappearing disease in Louisiana had plenty of honey in the combs but there were few or no bees.
1. What are your views about the decrease in the bee population and what could be any possible solutions to this problem.
2. What are some causes for the decline in bee populations?
3. Can honeybees go extinct in our life time?
I found your article very interesting, you’re right about the seriousness of the decreasing honey bee population. Did you know that North Dakota is the number one honey producer in the country? http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/livestock/bees-profile/ I read that reports say that 2.5 million honey-producing colonies in 2011 generated 148 million pounds of raw honey. It also says it decreased 16% from 2010. So yes there is a decline. I also found that the main/largest uses of honey are from cereal companies and bakeries. Did you also know there are 300 different types of honey, in different ranges of color. To keep demand going many honey businesses use there products for candles, wax, Chapstick, and beeswax! Cool, right? I found that the decrease of honey bees is a growing problem and should be fixed very soon, also thanks for reading my comment, if you did I hope you find this information educational and broadens your topic.
One reason for the declining be population is the increase in Varroa destructor mites. These mites begin to feed on a developing bee, then all the other mites will use the same feeding spot. The mites carry a deformed wing virus Once the bees get this virus they can’t fly or get food. Therefor they die. When this happens to a lot of bees in the same colony, the colony eventually gets wiped out.
http://www.livescience.com/271-bees-wiped-cascade-deadly-events.html