Pollinator

Saving the Bees, One Backyard at a Time Bees play a vital role in our food supply. They pollinate more than 70% of the food we eat, including nuts, berries and other fruits and vegetables. Nevertheless, these hard working insects are disappearing from our planet faster than we can imagine. Between pesticides and all the new communities being built on farmland, we leave no room for wildlife, including honey bees. It’s time to take a stand, by changing the laws of the land and making…

What the Buzz? Over the last 28 years, the United States bee population has dropped by around one million. In 1989 the United States reached a peak of 3.5 million bee colonies, whereas today we are sitting at around 2.6 million. While the effects are evident, the cause behind them is not. There are many factors believed to be aiding the decline of the bee population, however no one participant can take all the blame. One of the most commonly sought reasons for their decline relates to new…

What is CCD? CCD stands for colony collapse disorder, which is a sudden population loss in worker bees. This loss leaves the queen alone with a few nurse bees to take care of her and the few remaining young bees. When a colony is affected by CCD, there are very few dead bees near the colony. What causes CCD? Varroa mites are one of the bigger problems. Varroa mites are parasites that hitch a ride on a bee, and end up in the hive. Once they are in the hive they lay eggs and any bacteria or…

If the tree is dying fast and has already been infested with carpenter bees it is more than likely going to die. This is the eastern carpenter bees (Xylocopa virgincia) and they are found around wood in use for decks, housing, or any rough lumber structures usually. They can also use a dead or dying tree for their habitat. A separate disease or insect killed or seriously degraded the tree prior to the bees infested. These bees range across the Eastern United States and Canada. They are important…

Bee Colonies In The US Worsens As 44 Percent Of Them Have Gone Over The Last Year According to a new study, the beekeepers in the United States are losing 44 percent of their honey bee colonies in the period of April 2015 to April 2016. This is worsened compared to last year. It showed that summer loss rates outdone winter loss rates. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an assistant professor of entomology at University of Maryland and a project director for the Bee Informed Partnership said that they are now…

How do bees benefit human society? Bees are a vital part of our society; they provide food and pollinate plants. They help pollination and a lot of plants depend on bees for them to spread seeds, therefor many crops would die off if there were no bees. No human action or resourcefulness could ever supplant the work of honeybees. With the bees help of pollination they have helped our agriculture and the economy like the invaluable pollinating services bees provide us with, helped produce…

Parasites, pathogens and disease play a huge role in the decline of bees. One example of a parasite which affects forager honeybees is the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor. This ectoparasitic mite was previously only found to affect the Eastern honey bee, Apis cerana, but in the last ~50 years, it has also found a new host, Apis mellifera and become a problem worldwide (Rosenkranz, Aumeier and Ziegelmann, 2010). Varroa mites reproduce in young honeybee cells, called capped brood cells. They…

110185809 10/30/17 Christopher miles Save the world proposal The honey bee has many species to its name, so it is quite difficult to find which species of bee has been put as endangered the name of the Bombus affinis (the rust patched bumble bee) is seen on the list of endangered in the United States. The bee has seen a sharp decline since the 1990’s. the bees pollinate around 1/3 of the crops of the United States, this makes it a concern seeing as the bee is close to extinction. But what has…

Next let’s talk about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). As we can see from previous paragraphs, bees help us live a healthier life without the need to use any chemical in the food we consume on daily basis. Therefore, it is important for us to be inform and worried as to why many bees are vanishing. Our bee colonies are going through a massive breakdown which was discovered in 2006. Near the end of 2006, well known commercial beekeeper David Hackenberg stepped outside to supervise his 3,000…

Introduction Plants and pollinators have co-evolved characteristics and features that enable them greater success in interactions. This mutualistic relationship between the two allows the plant to benefit from the attraction of a specific pollinator species, to hopefully ensure its reproductive success is carried out. This is achieved by the pollinator physically moving the pollen from one flower to another. The pollinator itself will benefit from its interaction with the plant species, as it…