Honeybees. The little insects have been flying around and keeping our ecosystem alive for millions of years. Many products that modern society takes for granted would not be possible without the help of honeybees, yet they receive little credit for their work. When people think of bees they do not think about the produce they help to pollinate and keep alive; rather, people chose to focus on the buzzing and the painful stinging. Within the past eleven years, beekeepers have been trying to bring light to the declining honeybee population within the United States. The loss of bees would have a detrimental effect on both the environment and the economy as bees are essential to creating a large amount of crops while maintaining low production costs.
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Featured on a cave wall in Spain, the earliest depiction of gathering honey from a bee was found. The painting shows a human figure on a rope harvesting honey from a wild bee hive, using smoke in order to divert the bees (Berrod). Thousands of years after the painting was created in the cave, the first evidence of beekeeping was found in ancient Egypt dating back to five thousand years ago. Wild honey was valued in Egyptian society so much that Egyptians would travel with their hives and would be found with honey in their tombs (Baessler). Beekeeping was so popular throughout the course of history that both Aristotle and Virgil studied and wrote about beekeeping some three hundred years apart (Dick, Allen). Aristotle’s studies included noting that honeybees only visit one species of flower during each flight, and Virgil recommended that beekeepers clip the wings of the queen bee. While historic beekeeping was indeed a popular trend, the concept of not harming the bees was not introduced until the late 18th …show more content…
Seemingly healthy bees were suddenly abandoning their hives for unknown reasons, never to return. Scientists have begun to call this mass disappearance Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and have since estimated that nearly one-third of bee colonies in the United States have vanished, resulting in the lowest number of hives within the last fifty years (Sass). Scientists do not know for sure what exactly is causing CCD: they believe it could be due to global warming, pesticide exposure, parasites, or habitat loss. Since 2006, beekeepers in the United States have been trying to call awareness to this issue, yet it did not gain much noise until recently. This could be due to the general misconception related to bees instilled in kids are young ages, i.e. that bees are scary because of their stingers. This is a common fear among kids due to their prior stinging experiences or from stories they have heard over time warning them to be fearful. In reality, however, bees are not looking to sting anyone, they are not aggressive and are unlikely to sting unless they are provoked (Amanda). Bees are here to pollinate, so as long as bees are left to do their job in peace, there is no reason for them to be
Featured on a cave wall in Spain, the earliest depiction of gathering honey from a bee was found. The painting shows a human figure on a rope harvesting honey from a wild bee hive, using smoke in order to divert the bees (Berrod). Thousands of years after the painting was created in the cave, the first evidence of beekeeping was found in ancient Egypt dating back to five thousand years ago. Wild honey was valued in Egyptian society so much that Egyptians would travel with their hives and would be found with honey in their tombs (Baessler). Beekeeping was so popular throughout the course of history that both Aristotle and Virgil studied and wrote about beekeeping some three hundred years apart (Dick, Allen). Aristotle’s studies included noting that honeybees only visit one species of flower during each flight, and Virgil recommended that beekeepers clip the wings of the queen bee. While historic beekeeping was indeed a popular trend, the concept of not harming the bees was not introduced until the late 18th …show more content…
Seemingly healthy bees were suddenly abandoning their hives for unknown reasons, never to return. Scientists have begun to call this mass disappearance Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and have since estimated that nearly one-third of bee colonies in the United States have vanished, resulting in the lowest number of hives within the last fifty years (Sass). Scientists do not know for sure what exactly is causing CCD: they believe it could be due to global warming, pesticide exposure, parasites, or habitat loss. Since 2006, beekeepers in the United States have been trying to call awareness to this issue, yet it did not gain much noise until recently. This could be due to the general misconception related to bees instilled in kids are young ages, i.e. that bees are scary because of their stingers. This is a common fear among kids due to their prior stinging experiences or from stories they have heard over time warning them to be fearful. In reality, however, bees are not looking to sting anyone, they are not aggressive and are unlikely to sting unless they are provoked (Amanda). Bees are here to pollinate, so as long as bees are left to do their job in peace, there is no reason for them to be