Globally, 40% of our honeybee population died off over the last year. The decline in the honey bee population is due to many factors such as pesticides, habitat loss, pollution, global warming and more. Humans are making survival for bee's much harder by destroying the land they live on, spraying them with toxic chemicals and polluting both the air they breath and water they drink. The US agricultural statistics show that the number of honeybee hives went from approximately 6 million in 1947 all the way down to 2.4 million in 2008, resulting in a 60% reduction in population. The drop in numbers show how fast the bees are dying and if we don't take action soon, very serious consequences will occur.
How are pesticides involved in the population decline
The number one cause for the decline in bee population is due to the amount of different pesticides used on crops and plants today. Many pesticides are actually neonictinoids, which are fatally harmful to bees. When a neonictinoid pesticide is sprayed onto a plant, it its taken in by the plants vascular system, bringing the chemicals into the plant and eventually brought back out expressed in the form of pollen, nectar, and guttation drops. Honey bees then come in to pollinate, forage and drink this pollen and nectar which is very poisonous to them. Once the chemical is inside the bee, it attacks their nervous system, shutting it down and resulting in death. Having these pesticides on most of the plants the bees go to pollinate, is becoming a real problem because more bees are dying than plants are being pollinated, and the bee population is declining at an unsettling rate.
There are many different ways pesticides can affect the bee such as the following -Drift of pesticides onto crops and plants. -Plants that were purposely sprayed with pesticides contaminate the flowering ground cover. -Pesticide residues, particles or dusts can be picked up by pollinators and brought back to the colony harming them all. -Drinking or touching contaminated water.
Why do we even use pesticides?
Pesticides are used for many reasons. There are multiple different kinds of pesticides all used for different things, some examples are
Algaecides to kill and/or slowing the growth of algae.
Antimicrobials to control germs and microbes such as bacteria and viruses.
Disinfectants to control germs and microbes such as bacteria and viruses.
Fungicides to control fungal problems like mold, mildew, and rust.
Herbicides to kill or inhibit the growth of unwanted plants, also known as weeds.
Insecticides to control insects.
Insect Growth Regulators to disrupt the growth and reproduction of insects.
Rodenticides to kills rodents like mice, rats, and gophers.
Wood Preservatives to make wood resistant to insects, fungus and other pests.
in BC we use Clothianidin on pome and stone fruits, grapes, and potatoes. We use Imidacloprid to control aphids in blueberries, potatoes, and greenhouse lettuces. We also use Thiamethoxam in blueberries, peaches, apples, peppers, eggplants, cherries, cranberries, apricots and many more. All three of these pesticides that are heavily used in BC are fatal to bees health. Coming in contact with these pesticides will always result in death which has a large impact our number of bees.
What else can we do to save the bees?
There are many things people can do to benefit the honeybee population. The first step you should take to save the bees is cut out any pesticides you use now and find other alternatives for the future. You could also leave out a bowl of fresh water for the bees to drink because honeybees are very thirsty insects and have been drinking polluted water causing them harm. One thing that many people don't understand is that honeybees are not out to get you. Honeybees will not sting you and there is no reason to tamper with them. Planting bee friendly flowers and flowering herbs without spraying them with chemicals is also a really good way to keep the pollination process going without causing harm to the bee.
Why are honeybees essential
Honeybees are much more important to our planet than you might think. Pollination occurs in about 70 of the near 100 crop species that are used to feed 90% of the world. Bees are responsible for the growth of many foods such as
Strawberries Onions Cashews Apricots Avocados Passion Fruit Kidney Beans Green Beans Cherries Celery Coffee Walnut Cotton Lemons Limes Carrots Cucumber Hazelnut Cantaloupe Chestnut Watermelon Coconut Tangerines Beets Broccoli Cauliflower Cabbage Brussels Sprouts Bok Choy Turnips Chili peppers, red peppers, bell peppers, green peppers Papaya Sesame Eggplant Raspberries Blackberries Cocoa Black Eyed Peas Vanilla Cranberries Tomatoes Grapes
Honey bees pollinate $30,000,000,000 of food yearly due to crop pollination, so since I was born, bees have pollinated $510,000,000,000 worth of food . Not only are bees important for the pollination of food used for human consumption, but they also pollinate many plants that other species require as a food source. Without the pollination process, many plant species would die out leaving no food to eat and harming habitat for wildlife everywhere. Mankind is not the only species dependant on bees, the whole food chain will collapse with the bee decline. The extinction of certain plants will leave no food for animals to eat which will cause them to die out, and when species dies out, that is a loss of food source for another species causing them to die out as well, eventually killing a majority of life on earth.
What have we done so far to help protect the bee's?
Over the past few years, People are starting to realize the destruction we have done. Last year, Europe declared a two year moratorium which states they are no longer allowed to spray crops with any kind of neonictinoids which includes Clothianidin, Thiamethoxam, and Imidacloprid which are all heavily used in both Canada and the United states. Since Europe banned these pesticides, their bee population rate went up significantly, however, farmers are having many problems with insects in their crops so there are discussions being had to see if the two year moratorium will stay in effect. Within the past few weeks, Canada has proposed a ban on Imidacloprid which would bring benefit to our bee population count although Canada does still have a sustainable level of bees.