The earth is not made of just dirt, water, and sunlight. In order for 90% of all plants and at least 30% of the world’s crops to proliferate, cross pollination is necessary, and bees are the most significant pollinators in Canada.
Unfortunately, bee numbers are declining both locally and globally.
Because of climate change, some flowers bloom sooner or later than usual, which reduces the amount of food available to bees early in the season.
The lack of bee friendly flora, abandoned farms, and development all contribute to the decline of bee habitats.
Neonicotinoid pesticide treated plants and seeds, as well as dangerous parasites like mites, are to blame for the collapse of some colonies.
Not very long ago, even one of the most widespread species of bumblebee was declared endangered.
Fortunately, there are methods that gardeners can contribute to the recovery of bee populations.
Not only will planting a bee friendly garden produce thriving, healthy plants, but it will also guarantee that bees will continue to play an important role in our ecology.
We depend on bees and other pollinators every day; they are among the world’s most significant pollinators for food crops.
In actuality, pollination is necessary for two out of every three bites we eat.
However, the widespread use of pesticides and other environmental variables, such as climate change, are contributing to the continued fall in bee populations.
The value of bees to individuals and the environment at large cannot be overstated.
Let’s look at a few of the environmental benefits that bees provide.
1. Pollination
Which summer crop is your favorite? You should give our furry, bug buddies a tip of the sun hat if you enjoy apples, melons, cranberries, asparagus, or broccoli.
These plants need pollen to be transferred from the male (or stigma) to the female (or female portion) of the flower in order to germinate.
Pollen grains are left on the sticky surface of flowers by bees as they go from one to another in quest of nectar, which enables the plants to flourish and yield sustenance.
Because they pollinate billions of plants annually, including millions of agricultural crops, bees are known as hard workers.
In actuality, bees and other pollinators are essential to one out of every three bits of food we consume. Many of the plants that provide us with food would disappear without them.
2. Growth of Wild Plants
Pollinators are essential to the health of more than just fruits and vegetables grown on farms. Additionally, a large number of wild plant species rely on insect pollinators.
Many seeds, nuts, berries, and fruits that are produced by bees are essential food sources for wild animals.
3. Food Origin
In order to nourish their colonies throughout the chilly winter months, bees create honey.
Although honey has been collected by humans for thousands of years, other species also enjoy it as a delicious snack.
Beehives are raided by animals such as birds, raccoons, opossums, and insects that want a taste of the nutritious honey (and bee larvae).
In addition, bees are an element of the food chain. Bees are the prey of at least twenty four bird species, such as the starling, blackbird, and ruby throated hummingbird.
Bees are also consumed by numerous spiders and insects, such as praying mantises and dragonflies.
4. Wildlife Environments
Though their intricate hives are well known, bees also contribute to the construction of millions of other insects’ and animals’ houses.
Their function as pollinators is essential to the development of temperate deciduous forests, savannah woodlands, and tropical forests.
Many tree species, such as poplars and willows, require pollinators like bees to flourish.
Thousands of tiny insects, birds, and squirrels can all be found living in your own garden. The animals that depend on these plants for survival would also disappear if bees disappeared.
5. The diversity of biodiversity
Bees are essential to every component of the environment because they are pollinators.
They facilitate the development of trees, flowers, and other plants, which provide food and shelter for both large and tiny animals.
A wide variety of different species are able to coexist in intricately linked ecosystems thanks in part to the contribution of bees.
The significance of bees to our food source is undeniable. Our platters would be empty and our gardens desolate without them.
However, we must not overlook the other benefits that bees provide to the ecosystem.
Please share with us your strategies for boosting bee populations in your own courtyard.
Reasons for the importance of bees
Most flowering plants need pollinators in order to increase.
As was previously said, pollinators are responsible for moving pollen from one bloom to the next in fruits and vegetables.
However, bees are useful for more than just producing an endless supply of fruits and vegetables. Nuts, coffee, and even spices are produced by bees; however, we’ll get to that in a moment.
The following are the main factors that make bees significant:
- Helping with producing one third of our food
- Contribute to providing half of the world’s raw resources, oils, and fabrics
- Help in the development of numerous medications
- Give wildlife food
- Help in halting soil erosion
Why are bees necessary for humans?
Is it possible for you to enter your local grocery shop and not notice food on the shelves?
Fresh produce would be in short supply. There would be no goods made with chocolate, coffee, almonds, or honey! There would be a shortage of even milk and beef.
That’s correct, plants that feed cattle, like alfalfa, are produced by pollinators like bees.
A significant portion of the crops we eat are produced by pollinators.
The maintenance of our planet’s lungs also involves pollinators, which include birds, bats, flies, beetles, moths, and more.
In addition to other plants, pollinators aid in the growth of many trees! Being essential to numerous ecosystems, they are genuinely a keystone species.
When we take a step back and consider why bees are vital to people, the answer becomes very evident.
In addition to serving as essential pollinators for the plants that produce the oxygen we breathe, bees are a vital component of our food chain.
Why bees are crucial to the ecosystem
Pollinators are necessary for over 90% of the world’s blooming plant species to reproduce.
This gives animals a place to live in addition to serving as a food source for wildlife.
4,000 of the more than 20,000 species of bees that inhabit the world are native to the United States. The honey bee is one of the most famous types of bees.
A third or so of crop pollination is done by honeybees. But these industrious insects yield much more!
They sell six interests from their hive: venom, propolis, honey, beeswax, royal jelly, and pollen. Humans gather all of these and use them for food and medical needs.
If bees keep on dying, what will happen?
It is impossible to exaggerate the significance of bees.
We cannot ignore the reality that, without wind, there would be some food to eat but nothing particularly delicious to eat every day. The wind does play a role in pollination.
The wind is in charge of pollinating wheat and corn. However, most of our nutrient dense meals are made possible by bees.
Absent almonds. Absent apples. Leave out the cherries. The enumeration is endless. Humanity would lose its vibrant, healthful diet.
What happens next? The technology could eventually find a way to pollinate “by hand” or with drones; we’re not sure exactly what that means. However, hand pollination is costly.
And where would those expenses end up getting spent? by customers! Fresh produce would set you back a great deal of money, even if you could find it.
Bee decreases are a sign that our course is unfavorable. Since insects form the foundation of our ecosystems, many other species are also at risk from the same insecticides that are killing bees. The air and water are also contaminated by these harmful substances.
They even damage the essential soil communities that we need to cultivate our food, remaining in the soil for months or even years. We will be saving a great deal of other animals if we take action to conserve the bees.
Why Do Bee Populations Face Such Dangers?
Bees are essential insects that face a number of challenges, yet the exact human hazard affecting populations most severely is a matter of disagreement.
Alterations in Climate
Rising temperatures, wildfires, droughts, and heavy rainfall are some of the threats that our changing climate poses to bees.
Larger bee species, such as bumblebees, are in decline, despite the fact that smaller bee species may be more resilient to the effects of climate change thanks to research.
Illness
Bees can also be threatened by diseases, and human activities may make matters worse.
“The combination of infections linked to viruses, bacteria, and parasites with chemical factors such as insecticides can worsen the health situation of hives,” according to the World Organization for Animal Health.
Chemical pesticides
Another issue with pesticide use is that it can poison plants and their pollen to bees.
Researchers discovered in 2019 that over a 25 year period, the usage of neonicotinoid insecticides made American agriculture 48 times more harmful to bees and other insects.
Furthermore, a recent study found that the impact of pesticides on bee populations has probably been overrated, suggesting that the risk may be higher than we think.
Industrial Farming
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service alerts us to the fact that the environments necessary for pollinators to exist “are shrinking.”
The exotic plants that grow in gardens, roadways, and other places are gradually replacing the native vegetation that bees depend on.
Corn and soybeans, which are extensively utilized in animal agriculture for animal feed, are among the crops being grown on land that are significant to bees.
Are Bees Necessary for Our Survival?
The majority of scientists think that humans might survive in the absence of bees.
But the loss of these insects might drastically change our way of life in a number of ways, including what we eat.
What would happen if there were no more bees?
Their contribution to crop productivity would disappear along with bees if they were extinct. Crop farmers and consumers would both have to pay a heavy price for this.
According to the BBC, if bees went extinct, “crop yields would fall off dramatically” because they are responsible for producing one third (⅓) of all food.
The function of bees in pollination would eventually be filled by other insects, but “you could expect the collapse of the apple, orange, coffee, chocolate, and rapeseed oil industries in the short term.”
Without bees’ financial support, the price of some foods would probably soar, driving up shopping costs and aggravating the disparity in access to wholesome fruit.
Conclusion
Numerous problems are plaguing bee populations, and some are rapidly declining.
The preservation of bees and their ecosystems is beneficial to all of us, as they are essential to the production of a large portion of the world’s food supply.
The environment greatly benefits from bees, thus our support of them is even more important.
The Bee Conservancy states that there are ways for people to support bees directly in their backyard, such as adding native plants and trees that are “bee friendly” and cutting back on pesticide use.
Bees, who depend on honey and occasionally suffer from its production, can benefit from eliminating it from their diet as well.
