Essay Example on Without a doubt bee's value to nature is Evident

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Without a doubt bee's value to nature is evident They are the greatest pollinating machine in agriculture Journey Les Crowder known for his study and care of honeybees defines a colony of honeybees as a super creature made up of 3 000 to 80 000 bees This creature comes in intimate contact with hundreds of millions of flowers 14 Such pollinators are a vital part of agriculture since they propagate the plant kingdom pollinating 300 million plants each day Jorgensen Indeed bees play a critical role in maintaining natural plant life as they are the main pollinating insect In the same way bees are valuable to man Their role goes beyond honey production It is reported that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat Jorgensen That is a significant amount Additionally many bee products have become noted for their healing properties and are in high demand such as propolis known for its powerful antibacterial properties and royal jelly rich in B vitamins with life enhancing enzymes and minerals Naturally only bees can produce these specialties for man s use However in 2008 Colony Collapse Disorder CCD hit the bees hard Robbie Shell from National Geographic defines CCD as the phenomena that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony hive disappear leaving behind the queen food nurse bees and baby bees Without the mature worker bees to bring nectar and pollen back to the hive it collapses 



To put it plainly it is a sudden die off of bee colonies brought on by the disappearance of adult bees from the hive Journey Undoubtedly this is uncharacteristic of bee behavior since a bee lives cooperatively and cannot survive on its own For this reason beekeepers all over the world began looking for the cause As a result researchers have found three major causes of CCD parasites poor nutrition and pesticides The Varroa parasite bee tick promotes Deformed Wing Virus DWV which causes as the name implies deformed wings Poor nutrition comes from the limited supply of pollen as might happen during periods of bad weather or as a consequence of habitat loss or commercial management practices Mattila However a new pesticide known as neonicotinoids is causing the greatest controversy Minute traces of neonicotinoids have been found to cause deleterious effects on the nervous and autoimmune system of a bee Crowder 129 So what does this all mean for the bee Firstly in the case of DWV the tick transmits a virus so bees lack the ability to fly preventing the bee from foraging for food This leads to no nutrition in the hive causing rapid death Secondly poor nutrition generated by failure to provide access to diverse and plentiful forage imposes a legacy of dysfunction on bee colonies Mattila Baby bees can never perform normal bee functions

Finally neonicotinoids weaken the immune system of the bees causing a loss in sense of direction Once they leave the hive they can never find their way back Today Dr Bartuska from the United States Department of Agriculture USDA reports The number of honey bee hives has decreased from 6 million in 1940 to 2 5 million Our bee pollinators are dying off Without the service of bees as pollinators our world will come to look very different Dependent plants will be unable to reproduce and spread across the landscape In the United States alone Dr Bartuska reports that 90 crops ranging from nuts to flowering vegetables require insect pollination She also emphasizes Bees as primary pollinators add 15 billion a year by increasing crop yield and helping to ensure superior quality harvests USDA In other words bees are a major contributor of our ecosystem Therefore with less bee pollinating sources triggered by CCD crop yields will decrease causing a chain reaction Subsequently most animals depend directly or indirectly on plants The food Once crop yields plummet the animals that rely on a particular plant species would die off Farmers that graze animals such as cattle used for milk and meat would have to seek another source of feed Even carnivores that eat herbivores will be affected because they depend on plants to feed their prey

 The food This decrease in food sources makes a great impact on the food chain In fact Albert Einstein concluded If the bee disappeared on the face of the earth man would only have four years left to live While some claim this statement is uncreditable and Einstein s named was used only to make it sound relevant Jeff Pettis a research leader for the USDA says There s nothing waiting in the wings that can replace honey bees at this time Silence Is it possible that the former statement holds some truth It is known that plants and animals provide men with all their nutrition Where will they turn when their food sources have all died out Certainly man would not live long Therefore while researchers study deeper into CCD and beekeepers work harder to improve bee health citizens can help the honeybee too One can start by growing a backyard bee garden These gardens supply nectar and pollen for honey bees Also when planting flowers choose those that bloom successively and plant them in large patches Some other simple practices listed by the Natural Resources Conservation Services NRCS are allowing vegetables to bolt go to seed providing a water source and giving bees natural hives like dead hollow trees Most important however is keeping the garden free of pesticides One must remember that pesticides can be carried back to the hive Alternately if these practices fail to fit your lifestyle one can simply help by buying local honey and bee products Or one can contact their local beekeepers association and support a bee keeping campaign Another tactic would be writing to one s senator and representative to support funding for honey bee research Above all one can spread the awareness about bee importance


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