The human race has existed on earth for about 200,000 years, yet rapid evolution of the human race are causing negative effects on the planet and its organisms that are millions of years older. One of those organisms just happens to be bees. People often see bees as a pest or even a threat, but what most don’t know is that bees play a silent but extremely important role in our daily lives. Most don’t stop to think that a large part of the food they eat or the plants they see are pollinated by bees. A world without bees would be one void of color and biodiversity, yet human actions are causing the decline in global bee population. Recent increase in the atmospheric content of greenhouse gases, thanks to humans, is resulting in climate change. This climate change is unintentionally killing off bees through increased global temperatures and habitat loss. When ever-increasing climate change combines with chemical pesticide use by humans, the future does not look bright for bees. If the current rate of climate change and human pesticide use continue than bee populations across the world will die off, leaving the earth without one of its major pollinators. Through the use of pesticides in agricultural systems and various anthropogenic factors contributing to climate change, humans are killing bee populations which can be detrimental to both our modern society and the natural functioning of the planet.
Humans have utilized the products of bees for thousands of years. From honey to bees’ wax to the pollination of plants, bees have been vital to the success and development of human societies. In today’s farming society, “they contribute an estimated US$ 17 billion per year; around 35% of agricultural crops depend directly on pollinators and 84% of cultivated plant species are involved with the activity of these” bees (Le Conte 2008). For such a small insect, that is quite a large monetary value in the economy of the world. A sudden change in the bee population could leave farms without a 35% of their agricultural crops or 84% of all their plants. This would have a huge effect on the world food supply for humans as on some plants who require a pollinator to reproduce. “Bees and flower-bearing plants are the perfect example of a symbiotic relationship in nature” because they work together flawlessly (Tucker 2014). Both the bees and flowers benefit from the relationship because both has something the other needs. Bees need the nectar from flowers to feed and make honey while the flowers need the transportation services of bees to move their pollen to other plants. Killing off bees disrupts this relationship that has existed for far longer than humans have in nature and can lead to unknown negative effects in the future.
Climate change is a real thing happening on Earth. It affects every organism from humans to the bees. The increased use of bees in industrialized agriculture has led to the breeding of hybrid bee species that cannot adapt as well to a changing environment as their pure-bred counterparts. These hybrid species are bred to come out of winter hibernation and “develop very fast in the spring” in order to increase pollination and crop production (Le Conte 2008). With the increasing instability of the climate, a series of cold weather early in the season could cause irreversible damage to a bee colony in the midst of breeding, for even if they survive the cold, their food stores will be too depleted to keep the entire colony alive.
Climate change induced by humans also brings about other changes such as higher global temperatures, new habitat ranges for species, and increased desertification of some areas. Warmer temperatures cause flowering plants to grow in new locations, bringing corresponding species of bees with them. This relocation “can define new honey bee distribution ranges and give rise to new competitive relationships among species and races, as well as among their parasites and pathogens” (Le Conte 2008). Increased competition among bee species can lead to the death of colonies as they fight for the same limited resources. Some species of bee have adapted over time to tolerate hot desert areas, relying on local plants and oases to maintain the health of the colony. As deserts get hotter due to climate change, these oases dry up, desert flowers die off, and bees are left without water or food. They are “highly unlikely to migrate naturally to more favorable desert areas because oases are very isolated and not conducive to long-distance migration or swarming” (Le Conte 2008). This leaves entire bee colonies to die from loss of habitat while humans simply move into the land that once belonged to the bees.
In 2012, a study was conducted by multiple scientists in Brazil to observe ten different bee species and their interactions with their ecosystems and environment in a changing climate. They were able to use climate data for the past 50 years in Brazil to predict the climate change that will occur over the next 50 years. The scientists observed bee habitat areas in Brazil that have decreased over the past 50 years due to climate change and were able to make predictions on further habitat reduction in the future. The results of the study indicate “that the suitable areas for 10 species but one of Brazilian bees will decrease” due to the climate change induced by human activity by the year 2050 (Giannini 2012). If 9 out of 10 bee species in Brazil lose more of their habitat, a large part of the population will likely die off. This leaves agricultural communities in Brazil without a majority of their pollinators, painting an uncertain picture for the future of Brazil. The effects of bee death due to climate change are uncertain, but the cause that is human activity resulting in climate change is well known.
Pesticides and their incorporation in large-scale, global agriculture by humans is the second main cause of bee death. With an ever-advancing agricultural industry, pesticides are also continuously being developed and released into the environment, whether they’re true harm to bees and other insects is known or not. The Environmental Protection Agency has been studying the effects of a particular common pesticide, neonicotinoids, on bees over the last decade or so. Their study concluded these chemicals to be toxic to bees even at small doses, yet “tens of millions of acres of farmland are treated with neonics each year” (Philpott 2016). These ‘neonics’ are among the most common pesticides used both in the United States and globally. After years of pressuring from various environmentalists and beekeepers, the EPA finally launched a study of these particular pesticides which they had previously deemed as safe to use in farming practices. Their study concluded that even when exposed to low or common levels of this class of pesticides, bees are harmed. Humans go about spraying copious amounts of these pesticides with no knowledge of how much will show up in the pollen or nectar of the plants and end up reaching the bees. It is this kind of negligence by humans for the environment and for other organisms that is leading to the death of species, particularly bees, and can have catastrophic effects on the future of both the planet and the human race.
Whether a person sees a bee as just an annoying stinger or for the amazing ecosystem provider it really is, one cannot deny the fact that humans are killing these insects. As predicted by the study conducted in Brazil, 9 out of 10 Brazilian bee species will experience habitat loss by 2050. If this trend continues due to climate change, the future of bees and Brazil’s agricultural industry are in jeopardy. This scenario applies not only to Brazil, but also to other parts of the world experiencing climate change and especially in areas with high pesticide use. Bees play a more important role in the proper functioning of the earth than any single human being, yet humans are slowly but surely killing off the bees. It is important for people to realize the significance of the role that bees play, to focus more on decreasing pesticide use and climate change, and it is important for the people to save the bees.