The Pros And Cons Of Killing Bees

Something is killing our honeybees. They have been in decline for the past ten years. Honey is becoming more expensive, and agriculture is suffering because of the shrinking numbers. Our crop resources are at risk of losing one third their normal reaping. There has got to be something we can do to prevent this loss.

What is killing our honeybees? Neonicotinoids are the leading cause of hive colony collapse disorder. When a hive becomes infected by this common insecticide, used to kill pests like ants or mosquitos, the bees begin to die and cannot support the hive they could only maintain if every bee did its part. Some people argue this isn’t the only thing that’s killing bees however. Some beekeepers believe that colony collapse disorder is caused by a mixture of fungicides, pesticides, and also pathogens and parasites. Some of the information supporting this is the way a hive reacts to the neonicotinoids. When a hive gets backspray, usually the queen
dies and leaves the hive unattended. Backspray can also cause a hive to lower its guard which allows parasites like the varroa mites to take hold and kill off bees one by one.

The world has noticed this decline, and has been putting forth efforts to try and keep the honeybee population sustained. The European Commission has underscored the threat by recognizing that neonicotinoids and other pesticides have a high acute risk to pollinators. The EC has suggested putting a two year ban on these neonicotinoids, in order to try and regain lost hives. The current state of the honeybee population, however, is still unchanged. California, the nation’s leading supplier of almonds has been concerned because the usual 1.6 million hives that support its 800,000 acres are no longer functioning in such a large number. California has been able to save the recent years crops by scrounging up hives from across the country to help pollinate the trees, but with the steady decline, shortages will be noticed. Beekeepers this last winter lost 40 to 50 percent of hives, as opposed to the usual 10 to 20 maximum. Throughout the year, 30 percentage losses have been recorded all over the nation. If we continue losing bees at this pace, our food shortages will become very apparent, very, very fast.

What can we do to help?
Most beekeepers are helping by keeping their business going. If we were to buy hives of our own, we could help keep the population running through hive growth. But, small numbers won’t solve any problems. This needs to become a world-wide effort. You can, however, start on your own because every hive counts. Another solution would be to avoid spraying pesticides on plants that bees consider desirable. If bees are attracted to a certain crop that we spray to keep insects from destroying, then the bees will carry the pesticide back to the hive, should they survive the poison. If we avoid spraying in areas that bees pollinate frequently we could combat the severe losses we see on a yearly basis. The last thing that we can do in our communities is build a healthy environment for the bees. If we cannot own them, then we can at least provide areas for bees to collect pollen and grow hives. These three small things, if performed on large scales could very well help sustain the declining
honeybee.

It’s not super apparent that we are losing bees just yet, but as soon as one third of our crop is lost due to lack of pollination, it will be too late. The honeybee may seem insignificant but it does more for us than we grant it. If we stop using pesticides that are harmful to our pollinators, if we supply needed hive nourishment then we may be able to stop the honeybee decline. Our efforts are insignificant unless performed on large scales. We need to inform the world and do our part to try and save our pollinators before it’s too late.