If Truth Bee Told
We need bees, they are important to us, they are the producers of honey and the pollinators of our crops.
Where Would The World Be Without Bees
Be Afraid, there is a global problem. Our bee friends are in danger. They are threatened by colony collapse disorder (CCD) where there are no adult worker bees to be found. Only the honey, young bees and the queen are found in the hive. If there aren’t enough bees to pollinate the plants, then they won’t produce the food we need to eat.
There are around 20, 000 species of bees, 1, 700 are native to Australia. Bees are the unrecognised heroes of the food chain, and their work as pollinators is critical to the production of 1/3 of the food we eat. Sadly, globally bees’ populations are decreasing at an alarming rate and help is needed to protect our bees. Bees are responsible for billions of dollars’ worth of crops per year.
For some people bees are simply just another annoyance. But even if you hate bees unfortunately you need them.
So What Would Happen If The Bees Died Off?
There would be a major rippling effect through the ecosystem. You don’t just lose the plant you lose the animals that eat that plant and so on up the food chain.
The variety of food choice available would diminish and the cost of certain products would surge. Although the majority of human calories come from cereal grain (which are wind pollinated), many fruit and vegetables are insect pollinated. These crops could not be grown at such a large scale and cheaply without our insect friends as hand pollination is labour intensive and expensive. Human nutrition would most likely suffer.
It is said that bees help pollinate world-wide 90 different food crops. A few things that bees are responsible for pollinating are apples, citrus, soybeans, almonds, mangos, strawberries and pears. Even the coffee plant. Imagine life without coffee.
The main theories to CCD and the bees decline are a combination of parasites, pesticides and lack of flowers.
For some people bees are simply just another annoyance. But even if you hate bees unfortunately you need them. Someone needs to stand up and take care of the little guys. Just like playground heroes will stop other kids from knocking over ant hills. We have people who look out for bees. We have Australian organisations dedicated to saving the bees. These groups unite like-minded people and raise awareness of the importance of the bees and the predicament they face. One such group is Save the Bees Australia.
What You Can Do To Help
Simply having a garden can assist the bee population. It's not just honeybees we should care about, wild bees are vital pollinators too. Just planting native flowers and staying away from pesticides is a great start in helping the bee population. The more flowers there are the better the chance of bees receiving the nutrition they need to survive. Then the bees don’t have to go it alone.