The Hives

This article is about honeybees (Apis Mellifera) and how they are beginning to vanish. Since 2006, beekeepers would open their hives to find no bees, only honeycomb, wax, and honey. One- third of the U.S. honeybee colonies died or disappeared during the past winter. The disappearance of bees caused food items in the Rhode Island Whole Foods to vanish on the shelves (apples, lemons, zucchini, and etc.). The disappearance of honeybees has effected the Earth in many ways. People are losing their…

It was a warm quiet Okanagan evening and as I sat out on the deck and watched a small car enter the driveway. A tall elderly gentleman unfolded from the car to sell a jar of honey. This seemingly insignificant gesture was the beginning of becoming the owners of “Arlo’s Honey Farm”. As green as grass and armed with a beekeeping book founder’s husband purchased – she jumped in and did her best. The bees have taught her many things, aside from a fast track education in beekeeping. The first lesson…

The Disappearance of Bees What would be the agricultural significance if our bees, the world’s most important pollinators, gradually disappeared over time? The answer: the agriculture industry will experience shortages in food, lose profits, and heavy pressure will be placed on farmers who won’t be able to meet demands for food. The world is seeing an increase of bees missing every year, and it’s all thanks to a mysterious phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder. In order to prevent the bees…

a caste system starting with the queen. The queen is bigger and stronger than the others. She is the one that produces the eggs. Then there are the drones who are like worker bees. What they do is keep the hive in good condition. Warriors are are the protecters and soldiers of the hive who are more deadly than the drones. Finally there is the praetorian or the royal guard. Their job is to protect points of interest or the queen herself.(alien…

flowers using their long tongues. The nectar is then stored in what is called their extra stomach. In their stomach, the nectar mixes around with enzymes that transform the nectar into a substance that is able to last longer in the hive. When the bee returns to the hive, full of nectar, it then goes on to pass the nectar to another bee by puking the liquid into the other bee’s mouth. This process repeats until the nectar is finally placed into a honeycomb. After being placed in a comb the…

nationally, and locally there is an increasing threat that looms over our agricultural and horticultural societies. The population of pollinating bees has been steadily shrinking. Over the past 10 years, beekeepers have reported more than 30 percent hive losses globally. In the United States, beekeepers annually report a loss of 40 to 50 percent or more. Furthermore, our region has experienced a steady 30 to 40 percent loss each year. Frankly, these statistics are quite unsettling. Though…

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…

overuse of pesticides that contain neonicotinoids has caused bee pollinating flowers to become harmed with the chemical leading to the bee’s becoming delirious which can lead to the bees taking back the pollen that contains the chemical back to the hive which slowly leads to death in the colony, or the bee can’t tell where the colony is, so it just wanders until it dies. Finding an alternative to the neonicotinoids or using less of it can be a step in the right direction in helping bee’s in…

and nectar to the hive. Honey bees display different behaviors depending on the type of activity they are undertaking. The activities include; egg laying, attending to the queen, swarming and protecting the colony. The worker bee normally takes up the duty of guarding the nest at one time in its life. Guarding is a critical in a bee’s life, since it…

“The way humanity manages or mis-manages its nature-based assets, including pollinators, will in part define our collective future in the 21st century,” UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner said.. “The fact is that of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of the world’s food, over 70 are pollinated by bees.” ("Humans Must Change Behaviour to save Bees, Vital for Food Production). Bees as pollinators play a major role in the world’s agriculture and the close…