...What seems to be the cause for these immense levels of death in colonies? Is this a common trend throughout honeybee life cycles? In short; no, this is not a common trend. It is difficult to pinpoint one specific cause of such massive death rates with a series of hurdles for the honeybee colonies to take-on, such as global climate change, disease, pesticides, habitat loss, and genetic vitality are common and presumed causes. Of several researched causes for the diminishing bee colonies, species richness was most effected by habitat loss / fragmentation (Potts, 348), proving that of the bulk of evidence that habitat loss was an essential key in the reduction of honeybee populations. In an industrializing world, especially in the United States...
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...FACTS ABOUT HONEYBEES Pollination Agriculture depends greatly on the honeybee for pollination. Honeybees account for 80% of all insect pollination. Without such pollination, we would see a significant decrease in the yield of fruits and vegetables. Pollen Bees collect 66 lbs of pollen per year, per hive. Pollen is the male germ cells produced by all flowering plants for fertilization and plant embryo formation. The Honeybee uses pollen as a food. Pollen is one of the richest and purest natural foods, consisting of up to 35% protein, 10% sugars, carbohydrates, enzymes, minerals, and vitamins A (carotenes), B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (nicotinic acid), B5 (panothenic acid), C (ascorbic acid), H (biotin), and R (rutine). Honey Honey is used by the bees for food all year round. There are many types, colors and flavors of honey, depending upon its nectar source. The bees make honey from the nectar they collect from flowering trees and plants. Honey is an easily digestible, pure food. Honey is hydroscopic and has antibacterial qualities. Eating local honey can fend off allergies. Beeswax Secreted from glands, beeswax is used by the honeybee to build honey comb. It is used by humans in drugs, cosmetics, artists' materials, furniture polish and candles. Propolis Collected by honeybees from trees, the sticky resin is mixed with wax to make a sticky glue. The bees use this to seal cracks and repair their hive. It is used by humans as a health aid, and as the basis for fine...
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...Systemic Pesticides and the Honeybee Population Beekeepers have been experiencing a large decline in their honeybee populations for the past decade at a startling rate. The disappearance of the honeybees has a much larger impact on daily life in the United States as well as around the world than many would believe, as they are cornerstones in a healthy and prosperous ecosystem. The extremely complex yet small honeybee is responsible for a large majority of the food we consume everyday. While there are multiple theories surrounding the disappearance of the bees, the use of systemic pesticides is leading the way as the culprit. The use of systemic pesticides needs to be banned in the United States due to the negative impact they are having on the honeybee population. As the population of the United States continues to grow exponentially annually, so does the need for an increased food supply. Monocultures have been the answer to this need due to the fact that they allow farmers to mass-produce a single item much cheaper and easier than traditional farming in which multiple crops are grown on a single plot of land. There are many possibilities for the types of plants that can be found in a monoculture but typically wheat, corn, and soy are the main monocultures crops in the United States due to the wide use of these plants in countless products on the grocery store shelves. These monocultures have caused the use of pesticides to reach levels never seen before by the agricultural...
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...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is basically a case analysis on the sustainable leadership excellence showcased by BMW. It describes their booming stages in their ventures through sustainable leadership. The report contains many concepts of locust form of enterprises as well as honeybee form of enterprises discussed and comparing in between which one is more preferred for better working of the enterprise. It mainly discuss on how the company works during the global financial crisis of 2008-09 and how they stood apart in front of its competitors when General Motors and Chrysler were in the stage of bankruptcy and the US government had to bail them out and Fiat bought Chrysler. INTRODUCTION The global financial crisis of 2008-09 has been a key thing for testing the efficiency and sustainability of many organizations around the globe. Most of the organizations could not survive GFC and the government had to come for the rescue of these companies. The report explains about how these companies managed to come back as key players after GFC. Here we also try to identify the two striking features in order to distinguish sustainable or honeybee leadership from non-sustainable or locust management. Honeybee practice maintains unity among stakeholders and helps in maintaining long term gains. Locust technique helps to make it feasible for short term returns to investors and...
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...widespread disappearance of honeybees? An economic effect of a widespread disappearance of honeybees is the loss of profit. If honeybees disappear, crops that depend heavily on pollination like blueberries and apples will suffer as well as the profit made (worth fourteen billion dollars). 3. Are larger or smaller honeybee operations more likely to experience Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)? Larger honeybee operations are more likely to experience Colony Collapse Disorder. 4. Hypothesize possible reasons for Colony Collapse Disorder. Potential causes of Colony Collapse Disorder could be a rapidly changing environment (which the honeybees could not adapt to), not enough plants for pollination (a lack of food), or dangerous pesticides and chemicals used on plants (that could harm bees). Part #2 Questions 1. As a class, list possible causes of CCD that Mark, Dave, and Tanya read about. Possible causes of CCD are newly discovered viruses from pathogens and parasitic infections. In addition, the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), causes honeybees to have a higher susceptibility to parasites. 2. How do Varroa mites and Nosema spores damage honeybee health? What are the disadvantages of using pesticides or fungicides against the mites and spores? Varroa mites and Nosema spores damage honeybees' health by harming the bees' digestive tracts, causing dysentery and increasing their vulnerability to other viruses and parasites. The disadvantages of using pesticides or...
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...The peculiar collapse of honeybee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon. First observed in the United States and parts of Europe over the past decade, there is now developing reports of a decline in China, Japan, and African nations – most notable Egypt. Initial viewpoints for the cause of these occurrences were surrounded by the use of pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, on crops. However, recent studies by the University of Exeter in the UK provide reasoning as to why the pesticides are not proven guilty of the global honeybee decline just yet. Neonicotinoids are the most prevalent agricultural insecticides, and honeybees ingest residues of the pesticides as they gather nectar and pollen from the treated plants. However, Dr. James Cresswell of the University of Exeter stated that although it is known that neonicotinoids affect honeybees, there is no evidence that they could cause a colony to collapse. While admitting that these pesticides may be harmless, Dr. Cresswell revealed that based on calculations he conducted, pesticides are not the clear cause to this issue. In class, we learned about the extensive use of pesticides and other chemicals in the environment and food industry. Pesticides, by definition, are large and varied group of substances that are specifically designed to kill biological organisms such as weeds, insects, and rodents. Based on the knowledge of pesticides I gathered in lecture and the facts provided by the article, it is a very difficult...
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...The biggest foreboding danger of all facing humans is the loss of the global honeybee population. The consequence of a dying bee population impacts man at the highest levels on our food chain, posing an enormously grave threat to human survival. Since no other single animal species plays a more significant role in producing the fruits and vegetables that humans commonly take for granted yet require near daily to stay alive. Since 2006 beekeepers have been noticing their honeybee populations have been dying off at increasingly rapid rates. Subsequently researchers have been scrambling to come up with an accurate explanation and an effective strategy to save the bees and in turn save us homo sapiens from extinction. Recent harsh winters that stay freezing cold well into spring have been instrumental in decimating the honeybee population by up to 70%. In the last half decade alone 30% of the national bee population has disappeared and nearly a third of all bee colonies in the U.S. have perished. Though the rate of bee depopulation is growing each year, 42% more last year than the year before, even at the current annual rate the estimated monetary loss is a colossal 30 billion dollars a year...
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...available (Benjamin and McCallum, 2009). Since 2007, nearly a third of the honeybees in North America, Europe, and South America have died for unknown reasons. How important is this to our lives? A U.S. Department of Agriculture/Cornell University study estimates that honeybees pollinate nearly a third of everything that we eat (beeculture.com, 2000). If these bees disappear, fruits, vegetables, and nuts will go with them, meat production will severely decline, and we will be in very bad shape, indeed. Two significant changes have occurred in the world of honeybees in the United States since the mid1970s: (1) there has been a steady increase in the amount of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) consumed by honeybees, and (2) about one third of the honeybee colonies in the U.S. have “collapsed” and are no longer available. The latter phenomenon is called colony collapse disorder (CCD) (Kaplan, 2009). It must be noted, however, that while these phenomena correlate, correlation can exist without causation. This case study will consider whether...
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...In the article, ‘Mystery malady kills more bees, heightening worry on farms’, published in the New York Times (28, September, 2013, pp.8-10), Michael Winesmarch argues that in recent years about half of the honeybee population has been destroyed; new pesticides may be responsible for the deaths, which have affected the fruit and vegetable industries. Winesmarch explains that the pesticide industry disputes the claims made as there is a lack of supporting research to suggest otherwise; even though, beekeepers have expressed their concerns about the increasing rate of losses, which they have never experienced before. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded by sending chemical experts to assess and discuss the severity of the problem...
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...“Sub lethal and Lethal Effects of Pesticides on Commercial Honeybees and Wild Bees” Abstract: It is a well-known fact that the global population of bees is declining. This is a major concern because bees are the primary pollinators of the world’s crops. Commercial honeybees and wild bees both have significant impacts on the fate of the worlds produce. Without bees, produce would be an impossibility to get because there would be very little to none available. The reasons as to why this is happening have not been completely isolated yet, but scientists are testing multiple factors as to why this could be happening. One of the reasons could be pesticide and insecticide application to crops around the world. Pesticide and insecticide application could be a major contributing factor as to why the bee population is declining. This is very unfortunate because agriculture is expanding throughout the developing and the developed world. Between 1961 and 2006 global agriculture of pollinator dependent crops has increased by 16.7% in the developed world and by 9.4% in the developing world (Brittain & Potts, 2011). With commercial agriculture comes pesticide and insecticide application. Global pesticide application is expected to more than double to 10 million metric tons by 2050 (Brittain & Potts, 2011). This could be a major issue if in fact insecticides are a leading cause of global bee population decline. Neurotoxic insecticides may pose more of a direct threat to honeybees...
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...Using Instrumental Insemination to Fight Colony Collapse of Honey Bees What Is Colony Collapse • Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. • While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, and were known by various names o Disappearing disease o Spring dwindle o May disease o Autumn collapse o and fall dwindle disease), • The syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in late 2006 in conjunction with a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of western honey bee colonies in North America. • Colony collapse disorder is significant economically because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by European honey bees. • According to the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the worth of global crops with honeybee’s pollination was estimated to be close to $200 billion in 2005. Honey Bee and Colony Design • In each colony the three different types of bees each have the same basic structure. • Worker Bees are sterile females responsible for maintaining the health and sanitation of the hive. • Clean and maintain cells and hive – Remove dead – Dispatch and/or expel excess drones after breeding – Fan the beehive to regulate temperature ...
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...introduction of these seeds poses a threat to the small Mexican farmers who grow the chilies organically. The GM chilies threaten, “traditional seeds cultivated by Native American and Hispanic families.” 2. Pusztai, A. (2001, June). Genetically Modified Foods: Are they a Risk to Human/Animal Health. Retrieved from http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/pusztai.html Ph.D Arpad Pusztai puts his findings together about the digestion of GM foods. He put together an experiment where he fed GM potatoes to rats. The results from his experiment showed the rats digestive system slowed down and there was damage to it. 3. Cummins, J. (2007,April 24). Requiem for the Honeybee. ISIS. Retrieved from http://www.i-sis.org.uk/requiemForTheHoneybee.php Professor Joe Cummins pulls together his research about the decline of the honeybee. He believes that the pollen from GM crops causes damage to the bee when it comes to pollinate the crop/ flower. 4. Cendrowicz, L. ( 2010, March 9). Is Europe Finally Ready for Genetically Modified Foods?. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com Europe has long resisted the fight against GM foods. They have finally approve of GM potatoes to be grown for the production of paper rather than consumption. Many people are wary that it will turn into consumers eating the GM potatoe. 5. Netherwood, T., Martin-Orue, S., O’Donnell, A., Gockling, S., Graham, J., Mathers, J., Gilbert, H. (2004, February). Assessing the...
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...Zabrina Campos M. Lynn Sullivan Environmental Issues September 12, 2013 Saving the Honey Bees How common is it for certain specie to disappear without a trace? Could this be possible? Apparently it is. Since 2006 the Honey bees have become a great deal of worry not just in the US, but around the world. They have begun to disappear without leaving any trace behind, denominated, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This phenomenon that has been hunting many for a few years has not yet been understood. Honey Bees are an essential part of human survival. Thanks to them we are able to eat every day. Many of the plant’s survival depend on the honey bees since “one third of the world's agricultural production depends on the European honeybee”(Cox-Foster ). They are the ones that can pollinate a certain amount of plants much quicker and easily compared to other insects. There have been many hypotheses concerning the loss of bees in the past years. One suspect that caused the disappearance of honey bees was the vorroa mites. These are parasites greatly responsible for the loss of a large number of bee colonies between 1987 and 2006. However, as the bees were studied there was found many unknown symptoms. This is how a hypothesis was developed stating that something was making bees more fragile. Its immune system was becoming weaker making them suffer different types of infections. However, the numbers of the vorroa mites were not extremely significant as to be the ones killing the bees...
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...In a Honeybee colony there are three kinds of bee: A few hundred drones or males, one egg-laying female, or queen, and 20-80 thousand sterile females or workers. The Honey bee is a crucial part of the agriculture world. The role Honey Bees play in our diet goes far beyond honey production. They pollinate one-third of crop species in the United States, this accounts for 30 billion dollars of crops. PBS.org states “Honeybees pollinate about 100 flowering food crops including apples, nuts, broccoli, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, celery, squash and cucumbers, citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, melons, as well as animal-feed crops, such as the clover that’s fed to dairy cows” (Silence .P)....
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...was renamed after the abrupt and disturbing vanishing of Western honeybee colonies here in North America, yet the same occurrence was noticed in Europe in areas such as France and the Netherlands (Wikipedia, 2014). The shortage in honeybees and their natural pollination services has led to an increase in farmers having to rent pollination services to service their crops. There are many factors to blame for the shortage of honey bees, for example, pesticides and insecticides such as neonicotinoids, malnutrition, pathogens, genetic factors, immunodeficiencies, loss of habitats, and declining beekeeping practices, antibiotics, and miticides. Some other causes of CCD are contamination, parasite loads in bees and brood, nutritional fitness of adult bees, stress levels, and a total lack of genetic diversity (Sutphin, 2014). The focus for this particular case study will be on neonicotinoids, antibiotics, and they were developed because at the time, they showed less of a toxic effect on humans and crops, as compared to organophosphate and carbonate insecticides. The mysterious, yet abrupt disappearance of honey bees from the beehive is known as colony collapse disorder or CCD. The disorder used to be known as disappearing disease, May disease, and even fall dwindle disease yet was given its current name, Colony Collapse Disorder, late in 2006. It was renamed after the abrupt and disturbing vanishing of Western honeybee colonies here in North America, yet the same occurrence was noticed...
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