The Importance of Bees

"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man
would have no more than four years to live.“
Albert Einstein

The Facts
“Every third bite of food you take, thank a bee or other pollinator.”
E.O. Wilson 1996

o In the UK around 70 crops are dependent on, or benefit from bees.
o Huge Economic Value
o If the UK were to replace the work of bees with people it would take
over 30 million workers.

BBC, 2009a; BBC, 2009b; NRDC, 2011

The Facts
o In the winter of 2008/2009 one fifth of honey bee hives were lost

o In the USA one third of honeybee hives were lost in two years

o 25 Native Species in the UK

Vanishing Bees, 2013

Crops Pollinated by Bees
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Alfalfa
Allspice
Almonds
Apples
Artichoke
Asparagus
Avocado
Blackberries
Blueberries
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts
Cabbage
Cacao
Cantaloupe
Caraway
Cardamom
Carrots
Cashew
Cauliflower
Celeriac

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Celery
Cherries
Chicory
Chives
Cinnamon
Citrus
Coriander
Cotton
Cranberries
Cucumbers
Currants
Dill
Flax
Fennel
Garlic
Gooseberries
Kale
Kiwi
Leek
Macadamia

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Mango
Mustard
Nutmeg
Onion
Parsley
Parsnip
Passion fruit
Peaches
Pears
Plum
Pumpkin
Radish
Raspberries
Squash
Sunflower
Tangerine
Tea
Watermelon

NRDC, 2011; Vanishing Bees, 2013

Colony Collapse Disorder
(CCD)
o Majority of worker bees leave the hive
o Abandoning the Queen
o Inadequate number of worker bees left to do the job
o Queen and workers starve and die

vanEngelsdorp, 2006

Why?
o Disposable Cups
o Parasites
o Poor Nutrition
o Loss of Habitat
o Genetically Modified Crops
o Pesticides
o Stress

Or…
Returning to their home planet Melissa Majoria in sense of the coming
doom…

Doctor Who, 2008

Disposable Cups
o Bees are lured by the sugar left in disposable
cups
o 25,211 dead bees in 30 days
o 680 bees per day are manually killed at recycling
centres

o 1.3billion – 800million cups of tea and coffee
consumed daily using disposable cups

Chandrasekaran et al. (2011)

Parasites
o Bumblebees imported from Europe carry pathogens
o Varroa mite

BBC, 2013c; BBC, 2010; Martin, et al. 2012; Science Daily, 2012

Poor Nutrition
o Honey bees require:
o Carbohydrates (sugars in nectar or honey)
o Amino acids (protein from pollen)
o Lipids (fatty acids)
o Vitamins and minerals
o Water

o All these nutrients can be obtained by bees in a
natural setting
Huang, 2010

Loss of Habitat
“The decline in wild habitat and forage is the most
significant long-term threat to honey bee
populations in Europe and the US”
Professor Ratniek, UK’s only Professor of Apiculture (2010)

o Healthy bees need abundant food supplies

Ecologist, 2010

Genetically Modified Crops
o GM Crops resistant to pest and herbicides

Global Research, 2011

Genetically Modified Crops
o James and Pitts-Singer (2008)
o Bt protein is of no harm to bees
o Herbicide resistant crops pose no direct toxicity
effects to bees

o Professor H. Kaatz (2009)
o Found that bee colonies fed pollen with the Bt
protein collapsed after 3 weeks
o “Since they are something no one wants to hear it is

difficult to find an adequate place for them”
GM Watch, 2009

Pesticides
o Neonicotinoid pesticides;
o Imidacloprid
o Clothianidin
o Thiamethoxam

o Targets the bees central nervous system

Pesticides
o Researchers treated 16 hives with different levels
of Imidacloprid
o Exposure to the pesticides lowers brain activity

BBC, 2013d; BBC, 2013e; Genersche, 2010; Monbiot, 2013; Mongabay, 2012

Stress
o The colony depends on the efficient cooperation
of the individual worker bees for essential tasks
o If too many bees get sick, it increases the work
load on the other bees

Discovery Communications, 2013; Royal Holloway University of London, 2013; Woody, 2013;

Stress
o Bees begin life as a larvae
o They mature into ‘hive’ bees, for 21 days they;
o Maintaining the temperature of the
hive, building, cleaning and ventilating

o They mature into ‘forager’ bees and collect
nectar and pollen
o After 21 days they die, and hive bees replace
them


Stress
o Dead bees are quickly replaced, however
impaired bees carry on attempting to work just
at a far slow rate, hindering the colony
o A tipping point is reached when more bees die
(of natural causes) than are being born


Stress
o“Exposing bees to pesticides is a bit like adding more
Pesticides such as neonicotinoids have been
and more be oneon someone’s shoulders. A person
found to weight of the major contributing factor
can stress walking normally under a bit of weight, but
to keep in bees
when it gets too much – they collapse.”
o Other factors John Bryden, Royal Holloway (2013)
Dr such as;
o Poor nutrition/Habitat loss
o Parasites


Why Should We Care?
o Significant drops in the level of pollination
o Reduced availability of certain fruits and
vegetables
o Increased food prices
o Harder to get a healthy balanced diet
Bumblebee Conservation Trust, 2013; Natural Resource Defence Council, 2011

Why Should We Care?
o Non-Consumable products of bees
o Wax
o Cosmetic companies
o Candle makers
o Pharmaceutical companies
o Dentists
o Chewing gum companies

University of Illinois, 2007

Bibliography
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Bibliography
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Bibliography
Lemelin, R. H. (ed) (2013) The Management of Insects in Recreation and Tourism. USA: Cambridge University Press.
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Mongabay (2012) Researchers Recreate Bee Collapse with Pesticide-Laced Corn Syrup. Available at:
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Bibliography
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Background Image
• Autan (2013) European Honey Bee Touching Down. Available at:
http://thebigfoto.com/bee-powered#photo24 (Accessed: 14 October
2013).

The Importance of Bees

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