Perhaps you’ve heard about the bees.
You know, about their current state? It’s always mentioned with such urgency when it comes up and yet, hardly anyone sees to be panicking. If you haven’t been privy to the news, I’ll catch you up—as of September 21st, the rusty patched bumble bee, and as of September 30th, seven Hylaeus species of bees have officially been declared endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This is monumental for the fact that it’s the first time that bees have ever joined the list, and it means that things are getting infinitely worse.
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Why is it so bad if the bees die off? Does anyone really like those little black-and-yellow stinging machines?”
Michigan State University’s Native Plants and Ecosystem Services outline the role of bees in our ecosystem and why we should be worried that their population is dwindling: bees are pollinating insects. This means that they maintain natural plant communities and ensure the production of seeds by transferring pollen from the male parts of a flower to the female parts of a flower of the same species. This can also be done by butterflies, bats, and other insects but bees—especially domesticated bees—are the dominant pollinating force. Without bees, we’re going to suffer massive losses in our agricultural community: according to the NRDC, it is estimated that cross-pollination from bees helps 30% of the world’s food crops and 90% of wild plants grow—which, in turn, means that without bees, most plants (including food and native plants) would go extinct. We know for a fact that in the US alone, bees pollinate over $15 billion worth of crops.
As the MSU website states, “It has often been said that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat.” Besides that, imagine living in a world without honey.
Yeah. It’s a miserable thought. So what exactly is killing off the bees?
As recounted by EarthJustice, between the winter and subsequent spring of 2006-2007, a calamity known as “colony collapse disorder” (CCD) made itself known. The normal annual loss of colonies, previous to those few months, was around 10%. That year, it grew to over 30%, and some domestic beekeepers lost more than 80% of their bees—and it’s assumed that these stats are optimistic underestimates of the truth of the situation. The worst thing about CCD is that there’s no warning that the bees will vanish. They disappear entirely, leaving behind only developing bees and a queen, sometimes a few drones (male bees). There are several theories as to what causes CCD, but no definitive proof of its origins.
Another source of bee deaths are herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. Some well-meaning agriculturalist will spray their crops to keep aphids and other parasitic insects away, only to find themselves surrounded by scores of dead bees. This is exactly what happened at a Target near Portland in 2014: a pest-control company had sprayed insecticide on surrounding Linden trees to stave off hungry aphids, only to find themselves handling the corpses of nearly 50,000 bees—an estimated number of 300 bumblebee colonies.
When these chemicals (specifically neonics, a nicotine-based pesticide, in the Target incident) are sprayed on plants, they don’t just evaporate after a few years. The pesticide seeps into the soil, seeds and leaves, later taken up by the plant’s vascular system. The plant becomes poisonous to insects eating their leaves, pollen and nectar—and even if it doesn’t manage to kill the insect. It can damage their immune system, making them vulnerable to pests and impair bees’ ability to re-locate their hive.
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So is that it? Isn’t there anything we can do to save our bees? Nope, there’s always a way to help out.”
MSU’s Native Plant and Ecosystem Service’s website provides a useful infographic on plants that bees thrive off of. An organization called, TakePart, suggests helpful tips as to making your existing garden more bee-friendly. If you’re thinking about becoming a beekeeper, Better Bee offers a comprehensive guide as to how to begin a mutually-beneficial relationship with our fuzzy yellow friends. There are organizations that need help keeping track of bee colonies, like Bumble Bee Watch and the Native Bee Nest Site Project. You can also help by making sure to purchase local honey instead of foreign imports, which may be cut with high-fructose corn syrup or contain contaminants—and remember that there aren’t any USDA (Department of Agriculture) standards for organic honey. Though it might be difficult, buy from growers who practice “integrated pest management techniques” and thereby minimize their pesticide use and subsequent risk to bees, as TakePart suggests.
The road to saving our bees is long and won’t be an easy path, but these creatures have to be rescued. They’re a critical force of nature, essential to our ecosystem, and they need our help. Perhaps with sufficient effort we can cross bees off of the endangered species list, as we did with the giant pandas; either way, there’s not much time left but we’ve got to try.
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