The honey bee population in the US is in decline. Honey bees are our main pollinators, and they help farmers produce between 20 and 30 billion dollars of crops per year. The population has halved since 1947. This issue is also happening in Europe. We believe this is caused by parasites and pesticides. Bees also have very little genetic diversity, as they are descended from the Queens. Weed control limits the range of nutrients in their diet. These findings will become the basis for a plan to combat the decline in honey bees.
NOS Themes:
1.Science is based on evidence-statistics prove that bee population and food supply are correlated
2.Role of curiosity- the scientists were curious and a bit worried, so they want to make it known
3.Science is collaborative- many people had to study the statistics and behaviors of bees so that this could be accurate
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=honey-bee-numbers-drop
Lexi Reed, Hour 2 Gabel
This is very interesting that the bee population has dropped so much since 1947. I wonder if we could ever get the populations back to where they were before pesticides were created to kill weeds. Also, how many other species have been this affected by the invention of pesticides.
ReplyDeleteI've found that a factor that contributes to the decline of honey bees is not only limited genetic diversity, but also because of poor nutrition. Modern pesticides and weed control methods have limited the honey bees' range of foods to consume.
ReplyDelete(http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/02/usa-bees-idUSL2N0DJ1OC20130502)
Adrianna Tan, Hour 3
I was looking into some of the main causes of the declining population, and most websites talked about pesticides. It is ironic that farmers are using pesticides to keep insects from destroying their crops, but yet the bees are necessary to keep their crops alive. Farmers are putting themselves in this situation, and most don't even realize it. This link below has a video clip that shows how the decline is affecting business.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57578760/pesticide-blamed-for-declining-bee-population/
Rachel Nelson - Hour 1
While I've never been one to particularly enjoy the presence of bees, this is alarming to me. I never actually thought about the fact that their population could be suffering because they seem to be everywhere. I think that the next step would be to put some money into research that could help us create a pesticide that kills the bad insects, while not harming the 'good' ones like bees.
ReplyDeleteIt is terrifying to know that we are losing such an important food supplier. I found an article that mentions that honey bees help produce 15 to 30 percent of the food we eat. It scares me to think that we might lose essential foods because of the honey bee decline. Also, another factor that contributes to the honey bee decline is varroa mites. They like to attack young mites and leave them impaired. It is said that they can destroy a whole bee colony in a few months. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1005_041005_honeybees.html
ReplyDelete