Bees are considered the flying lifelines of Earth's ecosystems and play a vital role in sustaining the planet's inhabitants by pollinating major crops.But bee populations are falling drastically due to loss of habitat, pollution, pesticides and even violent hornets who murder the planet's pollinators.?
If bee populations continue to witness a decline, food security will become a reality long lost to the past.Without food security, humans will wage food wars. A far-fetched estimation, but the health of a country's bee populations will eventually decide who gets food.?
In case a dire situation were to arise, those at the bottom of the social and economic rung will suffer the most. Read on to find out why bees are dying, what it means for humans, and why scientists are using tech to pollinate artificially.
A new analysis of multiple published studies published in Nature assessed bee health over the two decades and explained how natural and human-made factors are no longer favouring bees limiting their ability to forage, retain details, produce a colony, and their lifespan.?
One of the biggest culprits in the bee's quick demise are agrochemicals.Pollinating insects like bees face a series of threats, including fungicides and pesticides, which will reduce pollen activity and limit the nectar obtained from wildflowers.?
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According to the United Nations, at least 75 per cent of the world's crops including fruits and seeds that are consumed by humans rely on pollination from bees and other insects. Do you enjoy your morning hot chocolate or coffee? Well, your mornings may change for the worse if things continue to remain dire for honeybees.?
Just in 2019, a group of scientists concluded that almost half of all insect species on Earth are now witnessing a decline in populations. A third of these could completely vanish off the face of Earth by the end of this century.?
In addition, at least one in six species of bees is now extinct in some part of the world. If the trend follows, a large chunk of humans will not survive on planet Earth as poor nutrition and starvation would become the norm, especially in countries where food security is an existing problem.?
While diseases and predators like viruses, fungi, and bacteria constitute a chunk of the threat to bees, the use of human-made agrochemicals will continue to harm populations. As natural resources continue to dry up due to over utilisation by humans, bees are losing their natural habitats.?
These three factors with climate change in the mix are essentially ensuring the bee's demise.?
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For perspective, a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences earlier this year claims that crop yields of apples, berries, and cherries have suffered in the US. If the situation is escalating so quickly in developed countries that can manage to feed their whole populations in case of an emergency, one could only imagine the corresponding numbers for developing countries like India.?
The economy isn't safe either. The same US study claimed that crops dependent on natural pollinators like bees generate $50 billion a year. Without bees - there is no economy to sustain.?
To put it succinctly - bees pollinate plants, plants feed animals and humans, and the cycle goes on. If there are no seeds for plants and flowers to pollinate, they will lose yield and eventually die out... and so will the species that depend on them including humans.?
Many?companies are also using technology to create artificial pollinating mechanisms in controlled environments that deliver the same results, including a researcher at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, who created an insect-sized drone to facilitate pollination.?
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But should we already give up on bees and move to artificial ways? Only time will tell, but there are some steps you can take as an individual to save the bees.?Besides buying honey from beekeepers that promote bee populations, you can help bee populations by plating flowers that are helpful to bees including Lavender, Lilac, Blue Borage, Crocus, Bee Bush, etc.?In addition, you can install resting pods for bees in your gardens or balconies that are abundant in flowers.
Are you concerned about how we are slowly losing bee populations all over the world? Let us know in the comments section below, and keep visiting Indiatimes.com for your latest science and technology news related to the environment.