Extensions of the Honey Bees Honeybees help produce 35% of all food in the world and have been around for millions of years. Yet, in recent decades, the honeybee population has been decreasing dramatically. On average a beekeeper will report 20% of annual losses, up to 90% on some occasions. Researchers have found that several factors have been causing the decrease in the honeybee population; a loss of habitat, introduction of new chemicals into the ecosystem, increase in the hive size and the rapid spread of diseases.
Loss of Habitat The main causes of the loss of habitat for honeybees are urban development and deforestation. Urban development occurs when a city expands or maintenance its environment by the means of social, cultural, …show more content…
The honeybee is no exception to this tragic event and it has caused a massive loss in their wild population. Honeybees our very protective of their hive and won’t leave there home. So when a timber company goes through a piece of land, they will fight to the death in order to protect their hive. Yet, the timber company will just plow right through them, killing off that hive and taking away the opportunity for a new colony to take …show more content…
This allows the hive to be susceptible to diseases, the reason for this is because you have a large amount of bees in a small area. This allows the diseases to be easily transferred.
When a study was conducted in 2012, it’s goal was to “test the importance of small nests and frequent swarming”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) For this study they observed “small-hives”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) colonies and “large-hives”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) colonies. After observing the hives, they saw that the small hives “swarmed”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) more often than the large hives. They also observed that the large hives had deniably more bees than the small hives. After a few months they noticed the “first sign of disease in some of the larger hives”(Smith, Carter and Seeley). Within a month the disease went rampant throughout the hive, killing the queen bee. This caused the colony to “collapse”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) and most of the bees to die-off. While the small hives did show some signs of disease but were able to fight it off. This study helps support the importance of small hives because it allows the bees to fight off the diseases. Plus it better for the bees, even though it will cause beekeepers to not gain has much
Loss of Habitat The main causes of the loss of habitat for honeybees are urban development and deforestation. Urban development occurs when a city expands or maintenance its environment by the means of social, cultural, …show more content…
The honeybee is no exception to this tragic event and it has caused a massive loss in their wild population. Honeybees our very protective of their hive and won’t leave there home. So when a timber company goes through a piece of land, they will fight to the death in order to protect their hive. Yet, the timber company will just plow right through them, killing off that hive and taking away the opportunity for a new colony to take …show more content…
This allows the hive to be susceptible to diseases, the reason for this is because you have a large amount of bees in a small area. This allows the diseases to be easily transferred.
When a study was conducted in 2012, it’s goal was to “test the importance of small nests and frequent swarming”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) For this study they observed “small-hives”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) colonies and “large-hives”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) colonies. After observing the hives, they saw that the small hives “swarmed”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) more often than the large hives. They also observed that the large hives had deniably more bees than the small hives. After a few months they noticed the “first sign of disease in some of the larger hives”(Smith, Carter and Seeley). Within a month the disease went rampant throughout the hive, killing the queen bee. This caused the colony to “collapse”(Smith, Carter and Seeley) and most of the bees to die-off. While the small hives did show some signs of disease but were able to fight it off. This study helps support the importance of small hives because it allows the bees to fight off the diseases. Plus it better for the bees, even though it will cause beekeepers to not gain has much