A Sticky Situation

Do you like honey? Well, the bees are in a sticky situation. Since 1990, beekeepers around the world have noticed a decline in bees. Now more than ever before, we need to address this issue. We are now faced with the possible extinction of the bees. What is killing bees and do we have a future without them?

Let’s start by discussing what’s killing the bees. There are three main culprits affecting the bees: pesticides, habitat loss and parasites. Pesticides, as we know, are used to kill insects that eat crops. Unfortunately, the bees that go from plant to plant are also being killed by these pesticides. Habitat loss is a problem for the bees too. When people construct buildings, they take down trees and disrupt plants and wildlife. As a result, many creatures, including bees, lose their homes and food sources. Parasites are also killing bees. There are two main parasites that are affecting the bees. Their names are the tracheal and varroa mites. Tracheal mites live inside the bees killing them and the varroa mites live outside and impede the development of young bees.

You might ask why the extinction of bees should matter to us. Bees are important because they’re the world’s number one pollinators. Without pollination, many staple foods we eat, like vegetables and grains, could be gone. With bees gone, we would have a shortage of food before we know it. According to the BBC, “One third of the food that we eat each day relies on pollination, mainly by bees.” (www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zg4dwmn). Even if you are not a big fan of vegetables and grains, many of the animals we eat rely heavily on these plants for survival. If the bee population continues to decrease it could take a deathly toll on the survival of humanity. If the bees are no longer around to pollinate our crops this will cause a lack of food and potential famine. The species that also rely on these food sources could go extinct as well. This lack of food will cause food prices to skyrocket making food only affordable to the wealthy. The extinction of bees will cost us more than just money.

If we don’t stop the killing of bees with pesticides, habitat loss, and parasites, then the bees as we know it will go extinct. I will leave you with a final question to consider: Will we stop this problem before it becomes the truth?