TheBiologySpace.BioBlog

My grandmother is a scientist who currently lives in Michigan. For the past few years she has been studdying honeybees and actually has a colony of her own. In my last visit there this summer, she was explaining to me the effects of CCD and how slowly but surely less flowers and fruits were being pollinated and if the trend were to continue, scientists would need another way for mass pollination. The effects of CCD were also evident in the grocery stores. She pointed out that the price of jarred honey was up a whole 65 cents. :0 Crazy I know, but then I thought if this price increase continued, how much would people pay for a jar of honey?

When I first read about the whole Honeybees declining in nymbers I was kind of excited because unlike many people who just do not like honey bees I am allergic. It really bothers me during the summer when I am trying to lay out and swim and there are what seems like hundreds of bees around me so I always have to be careful. After I read the articles though I actually realized how important honeybees are to us. The price of goods and honeybees have a negative correlation. When the numer of honeybees decrease, the price of consumer goods will increase. However you wonder if the price increase is worth getting rid of those annoying bugs?? Is there a way we can generate honey and pollination without these honeybees?

i think that yes there are other ways of pollination through various things that mother nature can offer but it is the impact that is the problem meaning that they are the main source of the pollination. Seniors 08!

If there was a way to make honey and pollinate without honeybees it would probably be very expensive. If the costs of all these products that depend on honey bees do go up, I think we should try to conserve as much of the resources we have as possible. Rather than use them to make luxuries, they should mostly be directed towards making necessities. This would probably help to keep prices lower on things we need.

Reading through some other articles on the net also brings some other insight to the whole situation. Its not only the CCD that is affecting the bees but also the people in general. Apparently there are not only less bees but less bee keepers. This affects the numbers much more acutely then anything else I think because it shows that its not only natural causes that are affecting the bee population but also man-made causes, namely lack of people employed to keep the bees and to place them around the different fields that need to be populated. I’m not saying that nature isn’t responisble too but is it really just natures fault the bees are disappearing?

YES honeybees are necessary for pollination. I think the economy would collapse if our honeybees died and we had no way of pollinating our plants. Firstly, what are we going to feed our families? Soy? I think soy plants need honeybees, but I may be wrong. Secondly, what about wasps? Some species of wasps eat honeybees, and some species may entirely rely on this food source during a dry spell. Thirdly, honeybees make honey. We need honey. It’s a natural sweetener and has therapeutic benefits. Where I come from, honey isn’t found in the kitchen, it’s found in the medicine cabinet. Scientists need to get their derrieres in motion and find a solution, because I want my blueberries.

I had no idea that this deficit in honey bees was occurring. Reading the article it is apparent that the loss of these animals would not only affect nature but our society as a part of the worlds trade market. If these creatures were to completely vanish, the crops made from the honey they produce would create an a devastating inflation, further increasing our debt as it is. What I don’t understand is how a country to technologically advance can’t figure out a way to produce the pollen / honey in an artificial manner just encase they CAN’T save the honey bees?

I was caught by the comment made by brighamwright about the depleting numbers of bee keepers although, I feel the number of bee keepers compared to the honey bees affected by CCD less significant. But the fact that humans once again tarnished what nature gave them is irritating. I mean it just adds on to the list of human’s “bad habits” along with the burning of fossil fuels, and deforestation all in the name of convenience. I shocked to find that cotton was one of the crops dependent on the honeybees. Just consider some of the products that use cotton: pillows, clothing, sheets, furniture, shoes, medicine bottles, carpets, and other medical uses (for example a cast or tending a wound).