Article Title: Saving the Honeybee
Author: Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
After reading this article, I learned how important bees are. We humans depend on bees to pollinate our crops and flowers so we need to take care of them. Improving the colonies' diets, keeping infections and parasites in check, and practicing good hygiene can prevent colony loss. However, it may require making changes to our beekeeping practices but we need to do whatever it takes to save the bees!
Author: Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
- Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has wiped out large numbers of bee colonies.
- One third of the world's agricultural production relies on the honeybee.
- Monoculture farms require intense pollination activity for short periods of time throughout the year, a role other pollinators such as bats and wild bees can not fill.
- Only honey bees can deploy armies of pollinators at almost any time of the year, whether the weather is mild enough and there are flowers to visit.
- CCD will not cause honey bees to go extinct but some crops could be left with out pollinators and large scale production of certain crops could become impossible.
- Pesticides and viruses could be a cause of CCD - varroa mites.
- Bees could be poisoned by pollen from genetically modified crops.
- Poor nutrition could be another cause of CCD - pollinators no longer have the same number or variety of flowers because we humans maintain lawns and parks without any weeds.
- More than 170 different chemicals have been found in both healthy and sick beehives.
- Multiple factors like poor nutrition and exposure to pesticides can weaken colonies and make them vulnerable to a collapse.
- Beekeepers have had success at preventing colony loss by improving the colonies' diets, keeping infections and parasites in check, and practicing good hygiene.
After reading this article, I learned how important bees are. We humans depend on bees to pollinate our crops and flowers so we need to take care of them. Improving the colonies' diets, keeping infections and parasites in check, and practicing good hygiene can prevent colony loss. However, it may require making changes to our beekeeping practices but we need to do whatever it takes to save the bees!