Colony Collapse Disorder was first reported in 2006. Beekeepers began reporting high colony losses where the adult honeybees simply disappeared from the hives, almost all at the same time. There are many reasons as to why honey bee colonies are shrinking and not growing.
.One Reason may be that cell phone towers are being put right next to the colonies, these cellphone towers emit signals that interrupt the bees signals and this causes them to forget where their hive is located.
.Bees are responsible for pollinating most of the agriculture in america, 40.8% of america is farmland and there are many pesticides that are being used and when bees are trying to pollinate the crop they die because of the harmful substances being used.
.Climate change is harmful as we all know and it doesn't affect the honey bees positively either.
In the United States alone there have been statistics that show a really heavy decline of the hives and population of honey bees ever since the initial discovery that they have been dying out. U.S National Agricultural Statistics have shown a decrease of six million hives in the U.S to only two point four left in the whole country.
Ever since the so called initial outbreak of the bees going extinct people have been brought to the realization of what a monumental role they play in our ecosystem and also have been trying to make efforts to stop the rapid decline on their population. For example people who own big private lots often have either bee hives or bee gardens, bee gardens are gardens that have bee friendly flowers in them and fresh water to ensure that the bees return.
Also organizations like Save The HoneyBee Foundation, and books and films like Vanishing Of The Bees helps to bring more people into knowing what is going on with the bees dying. These programs and foundations also take initiative themselves to help regenerate the population. For example in Europe a campaign started to ban pesticides and their goal is to get one million supporters to sign the petition. Other organizations such as the Save The HoneyBee Foundation simply educate farmers and beekeepers on how to be more bee friendly and sustainable.
Also organizations like Save The HoneyBee Foundation, and books and films like Vanishing Of The Bees helps to bring more people into knowing what is going on with the bees dying. These programs and foundations also take initiative themselves to help regenerate the population. For example in Europe a campaign started to ban pesticides and their goal is to get one million supporters to sign the petition. Other organizations such as the Save The HoneyBee Foundation simply educate farmers and beekeepers on how to be more bee friendly and sustainable.
So what? Many people don't actually know what an important part bees actually play in our ecosystem, yes many people know they help pollute crops and all that but, many fail to understand that if bees die... the human civilization as we know it will soon follow the bees into extinction not long after. The famous quote that people often associate with Einstein "If bees disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live." does carry weight after all.
.Bee venom can be harvested and made into an antivenom and given to patients, much like how people milk snake venom to help people who are bitten
.The wax made from bees whether you know it or not is used in many household appliances such as lip balm, hand creams, and womens makeup.
. A honey bee hive is most likely associated with producing just honey, this is far from the truth as they can produce five distinct substances which are honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly.
.Bee venom can be harvested and made into an antivenom and given to patients, much like how people milk snake venom to help people who are bitten
.The wax made from bees whether you know it or not is used in many household appliances such as lip balm, hand creams, and womens makeup.
. A honey bee hive is most likely associated with producing just honey, this is far from the truth as they can produce five distinct substances which are honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly.
People often say without bees we would be dead but in fact forget about some other pollinators that help in conjunction with bees to help pollinate flowers, crops, and agricultural land used for human and animal conjunction.
.Beetles- they make up the largest pollinating group because there are so many of them, beetles are responsible for pollinating about 90% of crops.
.Flys- yes even the annoying ones that fly around your house running into your windows help pollinate plants such as mangos and even avocados.
.Ant- they often help pollinate flowers that have wide leaves and are close to the floor or surface.
.Wasp- wasps are often seen as not very important to the overall ecosystem but, they help pollinate over 1000 different species of figs and some flowers.
.Beetles- they make up the largest pollinating group because there are so many of them, beetles are responsible for pollinating about 90% of crops.
.Flys- yes even the annoying ones that fly around your house running into your windows help pollinate plants such as mangos and even avocados.
.Ant- they often help pollinate flowers that have wide leaves and are close to the floor or surface.
.Wasp- wasps are often seen as not very important to the overall ecosystem but, they help pollinate over 1000 different species of figs and some flowers.
As we know by now the ecosystem is very dependent on bees for agricultural crops for human and animal feed, but what many people miss out on is he fact that bees help make our clothes too. Bees are responsible for much of the cotton items we wear. Cotton is commonly regarded as being a partially cross-pollinated crop, and largely self-fertile and self-pollinating, although introducing insect pollinators into the crop during flowering has resulted in increased quantity and quality of cotton lint. Each cotton flower is only available for pollination on the one day the flower opens, with the corolla and staminal column falling off on the second day. Nectar is secreted by floral nectaries inside the flower and by extra floral nectaries on the outer or sub-bracteal, foliar, and unipapillate (microscopic) areas on the flower peduncles and young leaf petioles, with all nectar secreting sites shown to be attractive to foraging honey bees. Benefits of honey bee pollination include increases in the percentage of bolls per 100 flowers, more seeds per boll, more seed cotton per boll and more seed cotton per flower. Improvements in lint quality characteristics such as fibre strength and length have also been demonstrated.