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Endangered Species: Bees

Left to right: Healthy Bee (Marinelli 2017), Bee afecting with Varroa (Buitrago 2019)

Student Name: Luisa Carrillo 

Student ID: 001114878  

Lectures Name: Susannah McCallum 

Regina Strawhan 

Due Date:  29 November 2019 

Word Account: 1421 

Luisa Carrillo
ID 001114878
Endangered species: Bees
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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................3

2. Background...............................................................................................................................3

3. Definition..................................................................................................................................4

4. Causes.......................................................................................................................................5

4.1 Pesticides................................................................................................................................5
4.2 Loss of Habitat........................................................................................................................5
4.3 Diseases..................................................................................................................................5
5. EFFECTS.....................................................................................................................................6

6. SOLUTIONS...............................................................................................................................6

7. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................7

8. APPENDIX.................................................................................................................................8

Appendix 1...................................................................................................................................8
Appendix 2...................................................................................................................................9
Appendix 3..................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................11

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1. INTRODUCTION

Bees are ones of the most important species on the Earth, they are also the largest pollinators on

nature, however, this natural pollination process is currently in risk; because bees are an endangered

animal species. Bees worldwide populations are in decline for many reasons, some of the most

important are: synthetic fertilizers and herbicides on larger crop monoculture, increases pests and

other diseases that compromises the bee’s immune system and weather change.

Bees are flying insects that are distributed on the whole, such bees can be possible to find in urban

areas, forests, woodlands and heath like their habitat. The life of bees depends to keep their diet,

and when this happened, bees are making another function, it is pollination. The pollination is the

process which the pollen is transfering between flowers to reproduce. Many of the food and crops

like fruits, vegetables or cotton for example, depend of this process; nowadays, bees are called a

“keystone species” (Earthday 2019) the last reason, this mean that others species depend of them.

If the bees’ population keep decreasing, they would disappear and the pollination with them. This is

currently a global problem to sustainability. This report describes some causes, effects and possible

solutions about endangered bees. For further information, see Appendix 1.

2. Background

There are about 20,000 different species of bees in the world and there are many differences

between them (CANADA AGRICULTURE AND FOOD MUSEUM, 2019), for example: opposed to many

people think, many bees do not produce honey and although, many of them can sting others can

not, and just some of them have been domesticated to honey production as Italian, Carniolan,

Russian, Africanized and other varieties. But all of them have seemed characteristics to survive. Bees

are social insects and live in colonies with around 20,000 to 80,000 bees higher organize, each
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hive/colony keep three types of bees: a queen, workers and drones, and all bees have the equal diet,

this consists of nectar that is a sweet liquid and pollen that is the protein that they need. Both are

collecting in flowers by bees.

When bees collect the nectar and pollen they are contributor with plants reproduction process, the

process of carrying pollen carry has been done by other sources like wind, water, different animal

species of these, Bayer’s (n.d) pharmaceutical program describe that “…Insects are by far the largest

group of animal pollinators… of these, bees are the most important group, with both wild and

managed acting as pollinator”. For further information, see Appendix 2.

The reason is that they are pollinators of most ecosystems, that meaning that many food sources

and habits for different species like insects, birds or humans, all depends of bees’ pollination work.

3. Definition

Since 1990’s beekeepers around the world began to report high range of colonies loss, they identify

that something was to affect the hives and majority of workers bees in a colony died, as a result, the

entire hive died too. This is knew as Colony collapse disorder and then the decline of bee population

has been registered by many researches.

Recently, researchers have shown that the problem of bees declining is increasing. In the case of the

United States' trend on annual loss of 40% between April 2018 and April 2019, that represents a

slight annual increase which average 38%. While the 2018 summer season loss rate was 20% for

2019 increase average of 38%, and the situation is very problematic in winter where losses are

already 40% reported since 2006 (Beeinformed 2019). For further information, see Appendix 3.

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4. Causes

4.1 Pesticides

The most common reason is the chemical contamination with pesticides and herbicides applied to

crops to prevent illness or support soil nutrients. As a result, chemical products reduce the bees’

ability to establish new population and the amount of floral resources for their feeding. This problem

is mentioned by people like Marla Spivak, Biologist and researcher of bees’ behaviour (TED 2013),

who said that the change in farming practices like stopping natural fertilizers by using of chemical

products on a large scale after World War II, and that coincides with follow decades of life bees

decline.

4.2 Loss of Habitat

The second cause is loss of habitat, maybe is not the most popular cause of bees’ population decline,

but could be the most important, because it is more frequent; loss of habit occurs on different ways,

one of them are deforestation for large plantings of crops or wood, then the bees losing resources

for nesting and floral resources for feeding (buglife 2019). Larva bees have a high feed demand and

that require varied areas with longer time of flowering, for the hive population to be viable. When

the bees’ natural habit is fragmenting it will be more difficult that a colony will be maintained, and a

consequence is that hives loss population and died.

4.3 Diseases

The third reason of loss population of bees’ is diseases, three typical pests (Varroa mites, Tracheal

mite and Tropolaelaps mites) could damage or finish a colony. Bees are susceptible to diverse

diseases, despite at the same time a hive is prepared to resist due to at that it has a higher hygienic

behaviour removing many pathogen agents or parasites as possible from the bee colony (FAO 2006).

The risk with this problem is that it can be started when bees infected number in a hive increases
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and effort for clean and to cure the colony of them, will are not enough. Nowadays that is common

as a result of climate change and loss habitat, such that flowers amount declines, and healthy

individuals come into contact with infected individuals.

5. EFFECTS

Currently, many researchers study several effects, they predict that if the bee's population

declination continues, food security production will be threat, one of every three world food

depends on bees’ pollinators (Grossman 2013). According to different researches, plant

reproduction will be not possible without bees, then this effect will have two ways. Firstly, plants

species will be lost like extinction and lose plants mean that food amount of animal decline too,

which is a risk for many species.

Lose vegetal species with bees’ population decreasing, could be mean new changes in the earth

topography, due to lose that lot of vegetation, so, without the bees’ presence on some places will

lose grasslands and the effect will be desertification, and this is directly related with the water

conservation which will be not possible.

For the humanity, the bees decline has the same meaning than other creatures (loss food, water and

habit) but the economy depends on all resources too, such as bees decline means for example less

production of food crops, because one third of food worldwide depend on bees specially. (Amadeo

K, 2019)

6. SOLUTIONS

The solutions to prevent the bees’ population decline need governments decisions and individual

participation. Governments should take action as regulators, concerned decisions about different

environmental problems which bees are affected, like loss of habitat with urbanization, control the

use of herbicides and pesticides increasing on crops. In addition, industries should innovate and

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begin generating studies in safety products and procedures in order to benefit crops without

harming bees.

On the other hand, individual initiatives are possible and that will be helped to reduce the bees’

declination problem “This will create dense forage that lets honey bees build up food reserves for

rainy weather and winter survival.” said Sharon Treaster, a researcher referred to by OHIO STATE

INSIGHTS 2019. One way to help with this situation would be recover native wild flowers or created

a Bee-Friendly garden in their own yard.

Another way to take action is become a beekeeper; this can have a direct impact on crops and bees’

population support build up it. Also, beekeeping is a sustainable process, suggested for many honey

productors because is inexpensive compared to others entrepreneurship Jez Rose referred by

INDEPENDENT (n.d).

7. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the survival of bees is essential to sustain life, without those insects the world will lose

equilibrium of the natural resources, but currently the bees are endangered due to some human and

natural causes such as: pesticides, loss habitat and bacterial diseases which have been risk the bee

development.

Action needs to be taken to reduce the current impact over the bees’ population decline. Although

prevent bees’ threats and some solution can be individual, initiatives from governments and

industries are the most important actions because they have the capabilities to make a real change,

from different point of view.

Luisa Carrillo
ID 001114878
Endangered species: Bees
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8. APPENDIX

Appendix 1. Causes and Effects Flow Chart

Causes and effects Bees’ decline (own 2019, unpublished)

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Appendix 2. Pollinators in Agriculture

Bayer (n.d)

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Appendix 3. Total US Managed honey bee colonies loss estimates

Bees Informed, 2019

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REFERENCES

Australian Government Departmen of Agriculture 2019, Bees and pets diseases- Department of
Agriculture, Bees and bee pets and diseases, viewed 18/11/2019
<https://www.agriculture.gov.au/pests-diseases-weeds/bees>

AUSTRALIANM MUSEUM 2019, Honey Bee: The Australian Museum, Honey Bee, viewed 25/11/2019
<https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/insects/honey-bee/>

Bee care (n.d), Pollination: Bee care, Pollination, viewed 13-11-2019

BEE INFORMED 2019, Latest Loss Survey results 2018: 2019: Bee Informed …, LATEST LOSS SURVEY
RESULTS 2018-2019, viewed 13-11-2019 <https://beeinformed.org/2019/06/19/latest-loss-survey-
results-2018-19/>

Buitrago Adriana 2019, confirmed this when interviewd on 18/11/2019

CANADA AGRICULTURE AND FOOD MUSEUM 2019, What is a Bee?: Bees A Honey of an Idea, What is
a Bee, viewed 18/11/2019
<https://bees.techno-science.ca/english/bees/what-is-a-bee/default.php>

Earth Day ORG (n.d), Bees: Earth Day Network, What do you need to Know About Bees and How You
Can Help to Protect Them, viewed 18/11/2019 < https://www.earthday.org/campaigns/endangered-
species/bees/>

Farmbiosecurity (n,d), Honey bee pets-Farm Biosecurity, Honey bee pets, viewed 20/11/2019
<https://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/crops/honey-bees/honey-bee-pests/>

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO (n,d), a-a0849.pdf\, honey bee
diseases and pets: a practical guide, viewed 25/11/2019 <http://www.fao.org/3/a-a0849e.pdf%5C>

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO (n,d), I9466EN.pdf, Thematic
catalogue for smallholder farmers to promote innovation. Main bee diseases: Good beekeeping
practices, viewed 25/11/2019 < http://www.fao.org/3/i9466en/I9466EN.pdf>

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO 2019, FAO- Declining bee populations
pose threat to global…, Declining bee populations pose threat to global food security and nutrition
viewed 18/11/2019 < http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1194910/icode/>

Grossman Elizabeth 2013, Yale Environment 360, Declining Bee Populations Pose a Threat to Global
Agriculture-YALE, viewed 28/11/2019
<https://e360.yale.edu/features/declining_bee_populations_pose_a_threat_to_global_agriculture>

Kimberly Amadeo, 2019, The Balance (n.d), Bee Colony Disorder:Facts and Economic Impact, Colony
Collapse Disorder and its impact on the economy viewed 23/11/2019,
<https://www.thebalance.com/bee-colony-collapse-disorder-facts-and-economic-impact-3305815>

TED talks 2013, Marla Spivak, Why bees are disappearing, viewed 15/11/2019
<https://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing/transcript#t-285450>
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The CONVERSATION 2019, Ten years after the crisis, what is happening to the world’s bees?, viewed
13/11/2019 <https://theconversation.com/ten-years-after-the-crisis-what-is-happening-to-the-
worlds-bees-77164>

WWF ORG 2019, Microsoft word: EofE bee report 2019 FINAL- 17 MAY 2019, BEES UNDER SIEGE
FROM HABITAT LOSS, CLIMATE CHANGE AND PESTICIDES. Viewed 20/11/2019
<https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-05/EofE%20bee%20report
%202019%20FINAL_17MAY2019.pdf>

Luisa Carrillo
ID 001114878
Endangered species: Bees