やあ、 Good evening! I wanted to take some time tonight to shed some light on a subject that is rather close to my heart. and frankly should be of the utmost importance to every person on this beautiful planet we are lucky enough to call home. so with that let’s get started!
Around the globe bees have played a crucial role in the biodiversity of our planet for over 40 million years, with virtually no change to their physical and social attributes, however, we have seen massive declines in their population over the last 50 years, before we dive much further, I want to clarify a few terms, first being the term biodiversity, given that most who will read this are not scientists or engineers, what exactly is biodiversity? and why does it hold so much importance?
Biodiversity
Biological diversity or biodiversity refers to all life on earth, in this case, more on land, this includes plants, animals, insects, and microorganisms. the variety of species does vary by region, for example, here in Utah, we have over 1000 different species of bees. why is this important? to keep it simple, rich diversity allows for an abundance in resources, this includes food supply, medicines, and even things as mundane as paper. a healthy ecosystem can maintain itself and offers a wide range of “free” services for the environment as well as the surrounding plants and animals;
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- ecosystem resources protected water resources
- pollution absorption and breakdown
- nutrient recycling and storage
- contributes to the stability of the climate
- aids in the recovery of natural disasters
- Biological resources food Supply
- atmospheric purification
- wood products
- pharmaceutical and medical uses
- breeding stocks, population reservoirs
- future resource
- Social resources research, education
- tourism and recreation
- cultural expressions and values
Agricultural Workers – The Mighty Bee
It is no secret that pollinators are vital to agricultural production, contributing to the pollination of more than 1 of every 3 bites of food consumed in America derives from the result of the hard work of bees, – these services are valued between 15 – 20 billion annually. Given that today, farmland accounts for over 38 per cent of the land cover on earth, and accounts for 30 per cent of global net primary production, however, while the growth is expected to halt with the demand for agricultural commandoes to increase inexorably. (70-100% by 2050) – On an 800 thousand acre Almond farm here in Utah requires about 1.6 million bees to pollinate that specific crop. these bees are often domesticated or kept by beekeepers, that is not to say that wild bees do not help in the pollination process, they do indeed!
The Decline
As mentioned above, the massive decline of the populous of bees arose the 1940s, with beekeepers reporting steady colony loss; in fact, the global population has decreased from 6 million to 2.5 million as of today. I do want to point out that bees are not the only pollinators within an ecosystem, monarch butterflies, moths, bats, birds, beetles, and other insects also contribute to the pollination of over 500 billion dollars worth of global food production, according to Ohio State University researcher in Entomology. that sure is a lot of food!
Now, what exactly is causing this decline? there are two culprits that I wish to explore; Colony collapse disorder (CCD), and the uses of pesticides and Neonicotinoids. let’s look at CCD first, in 2006, the honeybee population faced a rather grave crisis, that being the infamous Colony collapse disorder; the cause of this phenomenal issue is still unknown to scientists, why would up to 80 per cent of the hive just leave? with CCD the vast majority of the hive would vanish in the fall and winter with few or no dead bees left behind, a mere few bees are left behind with their nursing queen. on a positive note, scientists are finding that this is occurring less and less.
However, many of these beehives that perished due to CCD were found to be harbouring varroa mites. a parasite that one was rare, but now infest hives worldwide. these parasites are known to cause two problems, one being that the mites suck out the fluids from the bees, this weakens the bees and puts strains on their immune systems, they also leave open wounds that are just perfect for viral infections to set in. before we get to the anthropologic causations, I want to at least touch basis on what many beekeepers dubbed the queen bee problem; beekeepers have reported that many of their queens are just not living as long, given that queens only mate once in their life, the amount of sperm they take in determines the length of their reign. this shorter lifespan results in less time to fertilize their eggs, therefore the future generation will have fewer worker bees and can contribute to less pollination than their predecessors.
All right, now we shall dive into our impact on the matter. the use of Neonicotinoids, C9H10ClN5O2. – neonic is an insecticide, a class of neuroactive insecticide that is modelled after nicotine, this correlation is rather important because just as nicotine in cigarettes causes the user to become almost dependent on the nicotine, we see crops doing the same thing. in 2017, two major studies were conducted; one in Canada, the other looked at three species of bees in the UK, Germany, and Hungary, the research turned preconceived notions on pesticides on their heads. to sum it up, it was concluded that these neonic, do not just kill hives outright, but instead does so over a longer period.
Amro Zayed, a biologist at York University, decided to measure agricultural chemical uses on Canadian cornfields grown with neonicotinoids infected seeds, Zayed’s team observed the farm over five months, Neonic dissolve into the water, thus easily making their way into groundwater via runoff. this gives flowers and trees that are miles away from these farms to take in the chemicals, which seeps into roots, stems, leaves, pollen and nectar of the surrounding areas. the team found a combination of fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides on the dead bees, larvae, nurse and foraging bees. to their surprise, they found neonic on pollen from plants, trees, and wildflowers in the surrounding areas. the pesticides not only reduce a bee’s chance to survival, but it diminishes their natural defence systems, much like humans who rely on antibiotics, bees rely on social immunity, a tactic that bees use to weed out dead or sick colony members, the bees that were exposed to massive amounts of neonic, displayed less and less of the behaviour, meaning that more and more sick bees stayed in the nest.
More research is needed to find plausible solutions to these complex problems, however, it is our responsibility as human beings to find better methods of pest control when pertinent to agriculture, especially in the United States, the EU has already passed bans on the use of these chemicals and has seen increases in bee populations, the U.S Fish and wildlife service has promised to phase them out on the public lands in which they manage. while yes, these are all positive notes, more must be done. organizations such as Environment America are urging Utah governor Gary Herbert to push for bans in our state. but we need your help! Join us in calling on state leaders to limit or ban the use of bee-killing pesticides.
