Desiree Lara Neary
Mr. Bursch
Honors Bio p.5
28 November 2013
Plight
of the Bees
There are not enough people in
the world that have realized that the bee population has decreased tremendously
over the last decade. If people continue to ignore this loss, there will
soon be a world without the existence of bees in the near future. More people need to "wake up" and
start protecting the lives of the furry, yellow and black insect we call bees. The
collapse of the bee population will lead
to the decline of food/crop production and negatively affect our economy.
Bees are recognized for the many
plants they pollinate around the world. Research
states that "nearly one-third of the
world's crops are dependent on honeybees for pollination"
(businessinsider.com). This tells us
that without bees pollinating our crops we would not have as many foods
available today, eventually leading to the decline of food production around
the world. I believe this should have people
realize that helping the bees stay alive will allow the crop production to
continue to flourish. It has been said
that "pesticides, disease, parasites, poor weather, and the stress of being
trucked from orchard-to-orchard to pollinate different crops all play a role in
the decline of managed honeybee populations"
(buisinessinsider.com). All of these
contributors cause the bees to feel beaten up, exhausted, and overworked
resulting in the death of bees. Some say
that plants "can be pollinated by hand after the bees go extinct"
(wikia.com). This process could only
last for so long because there are millions and millions of plants species around
the world, and when they are not pollinated they die.
Our economy could be greatly affected in a way that would not help anyone without bees buzzing around performing their duties daily. It has been calculated that "more than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, alfalfa, and almonds" (nrdc.org). Knowing how much revenue that can be produced by the simple act of bees collecting pollen just fascinates me. "U.S. honey bees also produce about $150 million in honey annually" (nrdc.org). I think that it is amazing that so much wealth can be made from a product that is naturally made by bees. If these figures do not capture the attention of people and the economic world, then maybe if bees discontinue to make this money people will see the difference. Researchers calculated that "the global economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop yields and increased production costs, has been estimated at as high as $5.7 billion per year" (nrdc.org). This money lost could be put towards other economic activities if bee population starts being secured with the people's effort, but until then this money will continue to be drawn every year. People should not wait until the world is desperate because by then it will be increasingly difficult.
Our economy could be greatly affected in a way that would not help anyone without bees buzzing around performing their duties daily. It has been calculated that "more than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, alfalfa, and almonds" (nrdc.org). Knowing how much revenue that can be produced by the simple act of bees collecting pollen just fascinates me. "U.S. honey bees also produce about $150 million in honey annually" (nrdc.org). I think that it is amazing that so much wealth can be made from a product that is naturally made by bees. If these figures do not capture the attention of people and the economic world, then maybe if bees discontinue to make this money people will see the difference. Researchers calculated that "the global economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop yields and increased production costs, has been estimated at as high as $5.7 billion per year" (nrdc.org). This money lost could be put towards other economic activities if bee population starts being secured with the people's effort, but until then this money will continue to be drawn every year. People should not wait until the world is desperate because by then it will be increasingly difficult.
Nevertheless, some people argue that there is no need to
worry about the lives of humans without bees because there are other
pollinators such as butterflies and hummingbirds. In addition, people believe that these
pollinators can replace bees once they are gone and takeover where the bees
left off. However, this is not going to
solve the problem because what makes the opposition think that once the bees
are gone more people will try to protect these other pollinators. This is why I think people must start caring
about the lives of bees and become aware on how they have some control over what
goes on in the world. In conclusion, I strongly believe that it should not take
the extinction of bees to have people realize the depletion of bees that has
been currently taking place the last decade.
People who support the bees should figure out different ways to
effectively spread the word about what is happening to the bees. We all need to understand that bees are one
of the main keys to human existence and without them we would not have access
to a lot of the products we do have access to today.
Works
Cited
Sass Jennifer. "Why
We Need Bees: Natures Tiny Workers Put Food on Our Tables." NRDC.
March 2011. Web. 28 November 2013.
March 2011. Web. 28 November 2013.
Spector,
Dina. "What Our World Would Look Like Without Honeybees." Business
Insider,
Inc. 22 June 2013. Web. 28 November 2013
Inc. 22 June 2013. Web. 28 November 2013
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