Environment | Amy Gan
picture source: The British Beekeepers Association
Of course, bees make honey, but it might be a surprise to find that it is actually not their main occupation. Bees spend their time pollinating 400 different types of plants, which include fruit and vegetables, nuts, plants such as sunflowers that are turned into oil, as well as cocoa beans, coffee and tea. Correspondingly, one third of our food is estimated to be dependent on their pollination, which also can be done, though less efficiently, by the wind, birds and other insects. This is vital for plant reproduction, providing the many fruit and vegetables we love to eat daily. However, not only does bee pollination directly affect us, it also affects the feedstuffs needed by livestock that people depend on for meat. Not to mention, it maintains the animal food chain and supports the diversity of the flowers and plants, thus critically contributing to world-wide ecosystems. Besides food crops, bees also pollinate plants such as cotton. All of this results in the annual global crop pollination by bees to be estimated to be worth $170 billion.
There are luckily companies taking initiative to raise more bees around the world, such as Alvéole, an urban beekeeping company, whose focus is beekeeping, education and the environment. Workplaces, neighbourhoods and schools can now host beehives for “urban greening” and to help the bee population.
And as you may have heard, organized by the Green Team, Champlain College will have a beehive next semester!
Of course, bees make honey, but it might be a surprise to find that it is actually not their main occupation. Bees spend their time pollinating 400 different types of plants, which include fruit and vegetables, nuts, plants such as sunflowers that are turned into oil, as well as cocoa beans, coffee and tea. Correspondingly, one third of our food is estimated to be dependent on their pollination, which also can be done, though less efficiently, by the wind, birds and other insects. This is vital for plant reproduction, providing the many fruit and vegetables we love to eat daily. However, not only does bee pollination directly affect us, it also affects the feedstuffs needed by livestock that people depend on for meat. Not to mention, it maintains the animal food chain and supports the diversity of the flowers and plants, thus critically contributing to world-wide ecosystems. Besides food crops, bees also pollinate plants such as cotton. All of this results in the annual global crop pollination by bees to be estimated to be worth $170 billion.
Around the world, there are 25,000 different bee species. The most popular are honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees. Honeybees, as their name indicates, are the only ones which make honey. Research shows that although each bumblebee pollinates more, their colony of 250 bees is much smaller and therefore less efficient than the colony of 50,000 honeybees. Solitary bees, on the other hand, live alone and usually sync their cycle to one type of plant, pollinating and feeding their young at the same time.
Bees are undeniably exceptional. They are in a loving relationship with their food: the bee needs the flower as food, and the flower needs the bee in order to reproduce. In addition, honey has been known to have antibacterial and antiseptic properties for over centuries, and honey-hunting has been depicted in cave drawings from 20,000 years ago. This sweet substance has played a heavy role in history—from burying the pharaohs to sweeten their afterlife to pollinating the colonized new world in the 15th century.
Regrettably, bees are in danger of extinction globally, due to wide use of pesticides, climate change and habitat loss from intensive farming and urbanization. Some experts are afraid that the survival of mankind is dependent on bees.
In the US, there was a “colony collapse disorder” starting in 2007, likely due to parasites, viruses, poor nutrition and pesticides, which extinguished a third of their bee population. According to reports in 2015, 40% of honeybee colonies are still dying each year in America. In the UK, honeybee losses have ranged from 10% to 33% in the winter, caused by the fluctuating weather during summer and spring, which weakened the bees to being more perceptible to parasites. Even more alarming is the rate of extinction of bumblebees and solitary bees—they do not experience the help of beekeepers to restock their hives, unlike honeybees, creating an uncertain future for them.
There are luckily companies taking initiative to raise more bees around the world, such as Alvéole, an urban beekeeping company, whose focus is beekeeping, education and the environment. Workplaces, neighbourhoods and schools can now host beehives for “urban greening” and to help the bee population.
And as you may have heard, organized by the Green Team, Champlain College will have a beehive next semester!
With all of the necessities and benefits that bees provide for not only us, but the environment and other living things, we have to ask, what would we do without them? We put ourselves at risk by harming them. It’s time to strategize further on conserving bees through protecting their habitats, changing agricultural policies and changing farming methods.
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