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PapersProjects
- -Almonds Require Most of the Honey Bees (Mother Jones)
"Growing 80 percent of the globe's almonds in California doesn't just require massive amounts of water. It also takes a whole bunch of honeybees for pollination—roughly two hives' worth for every acre of almonds trees, around 1.7 million hives altogether. That's at least 80 percent of all available commercial hives in the United States, Gene Brandi, a California beekeeper who serves as vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation, recently told NPR." 05-15
- -The Death of the Bee (Swampland.Time.com)
"The beepocalypse is on the cover of TIME, but it looks like managed honeybees will still pull through. Wild bees—and wild species in general—won't be so lucky in a human-dominated planet."
"More recently, beekeepers have been seeing fewer cases of CCD proper [Colony Collapse Disorder], but honeybees keep dying and bees keep collapsing. That’s bad for our food system—bees add at least $15 billion in crop value through pollination in the U.S. alone, and if colony losses keep up, those pollination demands may not be met and valuable crops like almonds could wither."
"More than the bottom line for grocery stores, though, the honeybee’s plight alarms us because a species that we have tended and depended on for thousands of years is dying—and we don’t really know why. Tom Theobald, a beekeeper and blogger who has raised the alarm about CCD, put that fear this way: 'The bees are just the beginning.' ” 08-13
- -What Is Killing Bees (CBS News)
"CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports in each of the past four years about one-third of America's 2.5 million honeybee colonies have been wiped out. University of Montana researcher Jerry Bromenshenk has been searching for the killer. After screening bees for 30,000 disease markers a group of scientists led by Bromenshenk say they have found a probable cause."
"The kind of virus they discovered is common in other insects but very rarely seen in bees. The virus seems to kill only when the bees are also infected with a parasite, a type of fungus."
"Bromenshenk said, 'It looks like is that the bees can tolerate either one alone.' But, 'When you combine the two - that tends to become lethal in a hurry.' "
"That combination may help beekeepers. While there is no way to treat the unusual, new virus, the parasite can be killed by a fungicide. Bromenshenk said beekeepers can 'buy those treatments and apply them.' "
"As the main pollinator for most fruits and vegetables, honeybees play a vital role in producing about 30 percent of our food. So it's important to all of us that scientists are now closing in on both the cause and the cure of the honeybee die-off." 10-10
- Bees - Domesticated Bees Shortage (NationalGeographic.com)
"Decades of disease and overuse of pesticides have put the squeeze on populations of the domesticated honeybee. As a result, farmers are increasingly left with fields of flowering crops that fail to bear fruit."
"Since some 15 to 30 percent of the food we humans eat directly or indirectly depend on the pollination services of bees, scientists say the problem threatens to take some excitement—and potentially abundance—from our diets." 10-04
- Bees - Males Have Half the Chromosomes (NationalGeographic.com)
"Bees, wasps, and ants from the group of insects known as the hymenopteran order and other invertebrates have males with only half the usual complement of chromosomes. These insects and invertebrates comprise 20 percent of all animals." 10-04
- Bees Disappearing Tied to Pesticides (MSNBC News)
"A widely used farm pesticide first introduced in the 1990s has caused significant changes to bee colonies and removing it could be the key factor in restoring nature's army of pollinators, according to two studies released Thursday."
"A widely used farm pesticide first introduced in the 1990s has caused significant changes to bee colonies and removing it could be the key factor in restoring nature's army of pollinators, according to two studies released Thursday." 03-12
- Bees Disappearing at an Alarming Rate (CBS News)
"According to the Apiary Inspectors of America, a hive-tracking group, more than a quarter of the country's bee colonies have been lost — more than half-a million bee colonies that have simply vanished. What is actually happening — and what repercussions could it have on your dinner table?" 05-07
- Bees Endangered by Mites and Pesticides (NationalGeographic.com)
"Bees, via pollination, are responsible for 15 to 30 percent of the food U.S. consumers eat. But in the last 50 years the domesticated honeybee population—which most farmers depend on for pollination—has declined by about 50 percent, scientists say."
"Unless actions are taken to slow the decline of domesticated honeybees and augment their populations with wild bees, many fruits and vegetables may disappear from the food supply, said Claire Kremen, a conservation biologist at Princeton University in New Jersey." 10-04
- New Clues in Mass Death of Bees (Time.com)
"In late 2006, something strange began to happen to America's honeybees. Colonies that were once thriving suddenly went still, almost overnight. The worker bees that make hives run simply disappeared, their bodies never to be found. Over the past couple of years, nearly one-third of all honeybee colonies have collapsed this way, which led to a straightforward name for the phenomenon: colony collapse disorder (CCD)."
- Virus May Be Causing Bees to Disappear (PBS.org)
"A virus from Australia may be the culprit in the mysterious deaths of tens of millions of honeybees in the past year, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science."
"Colony Collapse Disorder affected 23 percent of U.S. beekeepers last year. Affected beekeepers lost an average 45 percent of their bees to the phenomenon -- the bees simply disappeared, leaving empty or nearly empty hives." 05-07
Worksheets
- -07-20-13 Editorial: Ban the Pesticide That Is Killing Bees (CBS News)
"Last month, 50,000 bumble bees died after trees in Wilsonville, Oregon were sprayed with dinotefuran, the neonicotinoid ingredient in Safari pesticide. This was the largest bee die-off ever recorded."
"With bee populations declining across the around the country at an alarming rate, I urge you to support the "Save America's Pollinators Act" to restrict the use of these chemicals until we can be assured that they are safe and being used properly."
"From flowers to chocolate, berries to tequila, pollinators are integral to the planet, economy, and many aspects of our lives. In fact, the USDA estimates that about one in every three bites of food is either directly or indirectly made possible because of bee pollination. Both our environment and food supply are inextricably tied to the welfare of bees, making the decrease in bee population a cause for great alarm." 07-13
- Bees Worksheets (AbcTeach)
Provides dozens of printable worksheets by theme. 8-01
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