ABOUT

Bees are social and cooperative insects. A bee hive is typically divided into three types of bees: worker, queen, and drones. The worker bee is the bee that we see everyday. The worker bee is a female bee that is not sexually developed. These bees perform the most societal tasks of the types of bees. The queen bee is the sexually developed bee and has a fairly simple task - lay eggs that will produce the next generation of bees. The male bees are called drones, the third type of honeybees which live inside the hive for the spring and summer and are expelled during the winter when the hive is in a lean survival mode.

During the winter, the bees survive on stored honey and pollen while clustering into a ball to conserve warmth. The larvae are fed by these stores and come spring a new generation of honeybees are emerging. Over the course of the past few years though, there has been a rise in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This term refers to the larger amounts of bees that have been continually dying all across the globe and not creating more generations of bees. There are many causes for these collapses, including:

Stress from moving and transporting hives.
Malnutrition
Loss of Habitat
Disease
Nosema (parasite)
Foulbrood
Wax Moth
Climate Change
Climate Change
Herbicides
Pesticides and Chemicals
Varroa Mites

CCD is growing more prevalent with some commercial bee keepers losing over 20% of their hive populations each year. In 2015, there was a 42% decrease in bee populations across the world, with those numbers growing each year. Without human intervention, soon, bees will decline even more, impacting the world we know to day in many negative ways.

Why are bees so important?

What so many people do not realize is how important pollination is to our agricultural, meat, dairy, textile and cosmetics industries. All of these industries are dependent on the basis of the job that bees dedicate their lives to doing. Bees collect nectar and pollen and are the only creature to do both of those tasks on the planet. Without bees, yes, there would still be pollinators and nectar gatherers, but none would be as effective or efficient as bees are. Bees are so efficient and effective because they are incredibly intelligent insects that use their memories to know which flowers have the best pollen resources so that they can save their energy while providing a very important role to us as humans. Bees produce the food we eat and provide us with the plants we see everyday. They are a fundamental aspect to our lives and without them, humans lives would be extremely different.

VALUE

Bees are one of our most important resource in both a natural impact as well as in an economic impact. What many don't know is that bees account for over 1/3 of agricultural production in the United States, accounting for $15-$20 billion a year in the agriculture sector alone. But agriculture is not the only facet of the economy that Bees play a large roll in. Across the globe, Bees account for over $200 billion in revenue from agriculture to cosmetics. Bees impact almost every facet of our lives and with more and more decline of hives, the impact is becoming detrimental to the economy across the globe. Since 2006, in the US alone, there have been annual losses of 29%-36% of honeybee populations, affecting millions of dollars in agriculture.

Where would we be without honeybees?

Yes, bees seem like pests at times, and scare many with their constant movement, buzzing and power to sting. But, a world without bees is even scarier. In the next section, we'll learn more about the specifics of what bees produce, as in the food we eat because of bees, and what we will be missing without bees. In general, bees account for nearly 80% of crop pollination, including flowers and plants that provide resources to us as humans. Our food industry, without bees would practically collapse and our diets would be altered dramatically, as 30% or more of our diets would be eliminated. The chart featured on the right shows the impact pollination has on certain crops and the value they add to the agricultural sector.

Human impact

One of the most detrimental sources to bees is in fact humans. With the introduction of pesticides in the 1940s, we have been impacting the lives of bees ever since. Chemical based pesticides are the most common from of pesticide that farmers use in mass quantities to get rid of pests that would typically harm plants, but these also harm one of the most beneficial aspects of the agricultural industry. These chemical based pesticides are costing the United States approximately $15-$20 billion a year due to the harm it is causing to so many bees. Pesticides are one of the leading causes of CCD, and with continued use of chemically based pesticides, there will be even larger impacts on the agricultural industry and in other major industries that rely on pollination. Unless we find a safe, sustainable way to eliminate pests from our crops we are looking at more money lost each year and greater declines in bee populations.

PRODUCERS

Bees are responsible for the pollination of one third or all fruits and vegetables that we consume. Without them, our lives would look a lot different. Although mason bees and other types of bees do help with pollination, honeybee pollination is what supports our world's population and the level of consumption 7 billion people create.

Not only do honeybees create a large portion of our fruits and vegetable, honeybees are also responsible for:

Pollination of cotton plants to drive the clothing and home good industry
Clover and Alfalfa, a main component in the feed used for cattle, which in turn produce dairy and beef
The coffee industry with mass production of coffee beans
Flowers we use for holidays and decoration
Beeswax, a main driving force in the cosmetic industry
Honey production

Would humans survive without bee pollination?

In short, yes. Humans would live beyond the extinction of bees, as wheat, rice and corn are all produced without pollination and need something as little as wind to be produced. But, as we are so reliant on bees and the food that they do produce, our lives would be dramatically altered and our diets would take a hit. There would be some food industries that completely go extinct, such as almonds, and some that would exist but would be extremely expensive and quite rare, such as the coffee industry.

60% of the foods we know today would still exist, as there are still other pollinators such as ants, flies, and butterflies, but many fruits and vegetables would become scarce as those rely solely on honey bee pollination. Fruits and vegetable such as apples, onions, and many varieties of berries would diminish or become extinct all together.
Humans would survive, but when you look at the value bees add to our lives and economy, many of the industries reliant on pollination would collapse or greatly decrease due to lose of revenue. Without bees producing the base of so many of our products, so many of the industries we know to day could disappear, dramatically impacting the job market and economy in an extremely negative way.

Fruits and Vegetables Dependent on Honey Bees

Some fruits and vegetables are almost 100% dependent on bee pollination, while others can survive without them, but will still face a large impact without their help. Below are examples of fruits and vegetables that need help from bees: watermelon, pumpkins, cucumbers, beets, blueberries, grapes, onions, strawberries, cherries, plums, coffee beans, and lemons. These are just a few of the crops greatly affected by bee pollination and a glimpse into foods we would lose without the help of bees. A wide variety of crops will ultimately disappear with the fall of bees.

Show me more crops

YOU CAN HELP

Bees rely on pollination to produce the fruits, vegetables, and plants that we know and love. With the declining populations of bees, more and more individuals are looking towards ways they can help combat this dramatic decline in. This is where you come in: even though you are only one person, you can make a drastic difference in the lives of honeybees and help them continue to pollinate our crops through simple and easy ways.

Bee Garden

One of the easiest and most beautiful ways to help out with bee pollination is to build your own bee garden. It may seem intimidating to build a garden, but it doesn't have to be. A bee garden can be as simple as a small patch of bee friendly flowers in your yard, or a window sill with a small planter of flowers. Every flower you plant can make a difference in the population and productivity of bees. Honeybees are attracted to colorful, vibrant flowers such as: daisies, sunflowers, and lavender.

When choosing a flower to plant it is important to know which flowers are native to the area you live in. Each year, Bees, being very intelligent, know which flowers are native to that environment and tend to be more receptive towards those plants. Ask at your local flower shop or anywhere that sells plants or seeds which ones are native to your state.

Pesticide Alternatives

A large contributor to CCD is the large amounts of pesticides that large agricultural companies use as well as those trying to get rid of weeds in their gardens. One way to make an impact is to stop using these harmful chemicals and pesticides and find natural alternatives that won't hurt honeybees as they make their way to your gardens to pollinate. A natural alternative can be as simple as a DIY salt spray that insects don't like, but are safe for bees. Many think it is hard to naturally get rid of pests in their gardens, but with a little research and creativity, the pests will be gone and the bees will be thriving in your garden.

Donating to Conservation and Research Efforts

It may seem like a lost cause when you feel like you, as an individual, can not make a difference, but there are people working everyday to better the lives of bees. If you feel like the efforts you are personally making aren't enough there is always great sources to donate towards research and efforts to protect the lives of bees. You can help sponsor a hive of honey bees or donate towards research efforts in helping to find solutions to the growing problems honey bees face everyday. Every step you take to benefitting bees is a positive step.

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