Despite its unceremonious release in 2007 and initial poor reviews, the animated film “Bee Movie” has managed to bounce back to popularity in recent years. Perhaps mainly inspired by a subculture of fans on the social media site Tumblr, the following has produced several ironic memes, including posting the complete script of the movie online and “shipping” the relationship bordering on “Beestiality” between Barry, the anthropomorphic bee, and Vanessa, the human florist. The film seems to be alive and well. Unfortunately, the film’s namesake species, the honey bee, is having no such luck.
Bees worldwide are dying. According to a recent UN study, pollinators — bees, birds, butterflies, and beetles — all face global extinction in the coming years. This could speak trouble for much of the world’s food supply and, eventually, for humanity itself.
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So what’s killing the bees?
It seems that not just one specific incident is to blame, but rather many, all contributing an individual cut to the future of the humble pollinator. Perhaps most noticeable is Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in which bees leave their hives en masse, usually during winter, never to return. Honey bee colonies lack adult bees and even dead bee bodies, but do still contain small amounts of honey, a queen bee, and immature workers. Scientists have known of CCD globally since 2006, but have not yet determined the cause of the issue.
Of course there exist several theories as to why bees are hurting in recent years, including poor bee nutrition, increased pesticide use, and natural pests and parasites.
Poor bee nutrition stems from modern farming practices that emphasize monoculture, or the cultivation of a single type of crop. This practice forces bees to visit and consume nutrients from only one variety of plant. Like humans, bees require a diverse diet of nutrients achieved through eating the nectar of various plants and flowers. Visiting one plant exclusively weakens the bees’ diets and overall health. Bees lose varied diets not only from monoculture farming, but also suffer the loss of a varied native plant diet from urbanization and destruction of natural habitat. Additionally, bee nutrition suffers from mass production of honey. Honey is naturally made by bees to store for consumption during winter hibernation, and most apiculturists allow bees to keep a small store of honey for that express purpose. However, mass producers take all winter honey needed for good nutrition and replace it with a cheaper yet nutritionally inadequate substitute like high fructose corn syrup.
The diets of bees are not just weak in nutrition but also full of harmful pesticides. Developed in the 1990s and still produced by big companies like Bayer, neonicotinoids are a class of pesticide thought to be lethal to pollinators. Because the chemical treatments are absorbed into plant tissues, they are present in the pollen and nectar consumed by bees. Research suggests low levels may hinder a bee’s ability to forage for food, learn and remember locations of food sources, and even forget the way home to her hive.
Neonicotinoids may even make honey bees more susceptible to natural pests and parasites like the Varroa mite which first appeared in the United States in 1987. Initially beekeepers lost 50 to 80 percent of their existing colonies. Varroa mites kill slowly by piercing the body and sucking out vital bodily fluids. Many mites are often found in CCD-affected hives.
Since 1947 to 2008, the bee population has seen a 90 percent decline in the United States from 3.2 million to 2.4 million honey bees. So why does this have such a huge impact on humans?
1. Bees provide us with food.
Imagine a world without almonds, apples, asparagus, avocados, blueberries, broccoli, celery, cherries, chocolate, citrus fruits, coffee, cranberries, cucumbers, kiwis, melons, and onions. Without bees, we would be living in such a reality. Bees are the main pollinators of many of the aforementioned foods. Without bees, these foods would either be scarce and extremely expensive or completely unavailable altogether. Most grocery store shelves would be barren as well, as up to 80 percent of food within the average supermarket is attributable to bee pollination.
2. Bees provide other animals with food.
Not only do bees account for one out of every three bites of the human diet, but bees also provide sustenance for other species as well. Animals including bears, birds, bats, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and insects all consume honey as a part of their diet.
3. Beeswax is a useful ingredient in many products.
Beeswax is found in cosmetics, crayons, furniture polishes, and waxy cheese coverings. When used in candles, beeswax allows for a brighter burn, removal of toxins from the air, and a slight honey aroma.
4. Raw honey is beneficial to our health.
Raw honey is an organic, antibacterial, antifungal, natural sugar with no additives. It is easily digested and boasts an indefinite shelf life. Medicinally, raw honey is thought to prevent, treat, and soothe a number of ailments, illnesses, and afflictions including allergies, arthritis, coughs, cuts, insomnia, nasal congestion, and sore throat.
5. Bees keep flowers alive.
Bees have coevolved with angiosperms, or flowering plants, over time. First, angiosperms produced vivid colors and patterns to attract the attention of pollinating insects to spread reproductive pollen. Eventually, flowers began producing nectar to provide insects carbohydrates to survive while distributing more pollen in the process. Bees’ modern morphology aids in pollen collection from flowers with increased fuzziness, pollen baskets, and longer tongues. Bees and flowers have maintained this essential symbiotic relationship and codependency ever since. Without bees, we may not be able to stop and smell the roses.
6. Bees contribute billions of dollars to the economy.
Domestically, bees pollinate over 15 billion dollars in crops per year. In 2009, the crop benefits from the native bee population alone in the United States exceeded nine billion dollars. American honey bees produce about 150 million dollars annually in honey alone as well. A loss of honey bees would be felt not just by Americans, but by the world too. The global bee population decline may cost as much as 5.7 billion dollars each year.
The facts are clear. Bees are extremely important to the world. For the sake of our future generations, we must secure the livelihood of bees for the years to come.
To help, first understand that bees are not our enemies. As vegetarians, honey bees are largely uninterested in stinging humans and will only engage a human if the security of the hive or honey is in jeopardy. Leave hives alone, and don’t agitate worker bees during the pollination process.
At home, forego the use of pesticides to treat your lawn or garden, especially neonicotinoids, indicated by the following words on a label: acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam. Additionally, allow weeds like clovers and dandelions to grow freely in your yard. These native plants provide some of the most vital nutrients to native bee populations. To help further, consider planting a bee garden full of native, bee-friendly plants and herbs.
At the supermarket, buy local, organic foods. While these foods may be slightly more expensive, increased demand in organics translates to a nonverbal push for reduced pesticide use and monoculture farming overall. Also, pick up a container of raw, local honey available in either the organic aisles of a grocery store or at a local farmers market. Not only is raw and local honey better for the bees, but it is more beneficial for the health of the consumer as well.
A better tomorrow, for both us and bees, starts with positive action today.
