The importance of bees.

Can you imagine a world without bees? While they perform one of the most important tasks on earth, pollination, they seem only to be recognised for their delicious honey and useful wax. Bees are vital to our survival and are dying at an alarming rate all around the world. Without our intervention, all bees may soon be on the protected species list, or even extinct.

What is pollination? Pollination is simply the transfer of the male pollen to the female part of the flower. When this happens, a seed, nut or fruit is formed. Not all plants require pollination, but for the ones that do, bees handle two thirds of that workload. Examples of types of food that would cease to exist if bees did not pollinate include cucumbers, pumpkins, blueberries, watermelons, apples, cherries and much more! Livestock is also fed with food that is dependent on bees. This shows how crucial bees are to the production of all of our food.

Bees also pollinate regular flowers, which attract even more beneficial insects and birds, and of coarse make the landscape much more aesthetically pleasing. Another important role of pollination is creating and sustaining biodiversity. Biodiversity has many benefits, including healthy soil, water retention, beneficial insect diversity and carbon sinks.

Bees are now facing a rapid decline in numbers all around the world. The biggest danger to bees is the overuse of chemicals in modern agriculture. Modern agriculture relies on a chemical cocktail of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and artificial fertilisers, all of which is deadly to the bee. They face this problem alongside habitat loss and disease, further adding to their declining numbers. Their numbers are declining so much so, that 7 species of bees in the U.S have now been added to the endangered species list.

So what can you do to help these amazing insects? Bee keeping is vital to the protection of bees and has undergone an urban revolution, meaning that it is no longer restricted to farms. There is now an abundance of urban beehives for sale and there are many simple beehive designs that even an individual with minimal carpentry skills could build. By providing a home for bees you are taking the first step for their survival (don’t worry, they wont sting you unless you threaten their hive). If you are not quite ready to build a hive near you home there are many other smaller things that you can do. These include: putting floating flowers, such as water lilies, in birdbaths so that the hard working bees can stop for a drink break without the risk of drowning; planting flowers in your garden; and ensuring that everything that you garden is free from chemicals. There are also many groups that are dedicated to saving the bees. A quick Internet search will reveal any associations in your local area that you can join.

It is clear that bees play a vital role in the everyday life of humans and of the entire planet. A world without bees would be scarce, bare and un-diverse. It is clear that we must intervene now and by taking the small steps above, we can ensure that the bees, we humans and our planet have an abundant future.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zg4dwmn

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/03/496402620/bee-species-added-to-u-s-endangered-species-list-for-1st-time

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-bees-are-important-to-our-planet/

http://permaculturenews.org/2015/07/30/the-thing-about-bees/

http://www.wheenbeefoundation.org.au/about-bees-and-pollination/