Bees and Climate Change
Bees need our help, and fast.
Did you recently eat an apple, drink coffee, or wine? Thank the bees. Without bees, ⅓ of the world food wouldn't exist and ½ the world's oil, fiber, and raw materials wouldn't survive. We can also thank them for medicine, clean water, and oxygen. Every year, these little pollinators contribute over $217 billion to the global economy. Yet we are not treating these creatures with the same care they're treating us with. Our activities are warming the planet, drying things up, and polluting the skies. Like every other living thing, honey bees are affected by climate change.
To first understand what warming is doing to bees, we must first understand how these creatures work, survive, and migrate. It has been said that, except for man, nowhere in the world is there anything to compare with the incredible efficiency of the honey bee. Every bee has a duty, organizing the entire colony into a smoothly greased machine. To survive, bees need two sources of food: nectar and pollen. Bees collect nectar from flowers and the nectar dries upon regurgitation to create honey. Pollen is in the anthers of flowers and plants. When it's collected, it is mixed with the honey to create "bee bread." This nutritious, creamy formula is then fed to baby bees. It takes 300 bees about three weeks to gather 450 g of honey (the size of a bottle).
It takes 300 bees about three weeks to gather a bottle/jar of honey.
With this much effort and dependency, any small change in the flowers can affect the nectar and pollen. The nectar and pollen will then determine the success of the larvae and the success of the entire colony. Flowers are beginning to bloom earlier in the spring, creating a mismatch in seasonal timing. This mismatch means that bees are not prepared to collect their food sources early; flowers stop blooming when they are ready and they thus collect less food for their hive. Even the difference of three days negatively affects bees' health, making them less likely to reproduce and less resistant to predators and parasites. These warmer temperatures are also shrinking the area in which it's safe for a beehive. A recent study on bumblebee migrations found that bee territories have shrunk by nearly 200 miles in North America and Europe. Last, with the health of young bees rapidly degrading, they become more vulnerable to disease and early death. For instance, Nosema ceranae causes shorter lifespans and colony collapse. According to a study published in The Royal Society Publishing Journal, higher Nosema ceranae infection rates can be linked with higher temperatures.
"If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live" — Unattributed
Without bees, we would lose much of the food, beverage, and even materials we depend on today. So what can you do to save the bees? Take these steps to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing the impact of climate change. Less CO2 means less warming. And less warming is what everything needs. Besides, don't harm these hives. Bees do nothing to harm you, so why should you hurt them? As you've learned, they are doing so much for this entire planet.
Together, we can make sure bees, and all other pollinators, wildlife, and nature thrives. We are a community, and if one species dies off, we might all die off. Nature needs nurturing, and we are a part of nature.
Detailed Source Overview
Hey there! Below you can find the sources we used to research bees and how they are affected by climate change. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding these sources.
Our Sources
Campion, Deirdre. "Scientific Advances in Controlling Nosema Ceranae (Microsporidia) Infections in Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera)." Frontiers, 20 Dec. 2018, https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2019.00079/full.
"Global Warming May Cause Bees to Mistime Spring Emergence, Missing Their Food Supply." Yale E360, 6 July 2017, https://e360.yale.edu/digest/bees-may-mistime-hatching-with-global-warming-missing-their-food-supply.
How Bees Make Honey. https://honeybee.org.au/education/wonderful-world-of-honey/how-bees-make-honey/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.
"WE NEED BEES — Planet Bee Foundation." Planet Bee Foundation, 21 Oct. 2020, https://www.planetbee.org/why-we-need-bees.
"Why Flowers Bloom Earlier in a Warming Climate." ScienceDaily, 31 Mar. 2015, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150331073936.htm.
Worland, Justin. "Bees Are Losing Their Habitat Because of Climate Change." Time, 9 July 2015, https://time.com/3951339/bees-climate-change/.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/cookieAbsent. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.
