AVIDArticleSummaryFormatPartI:IndividualAssignment

Name:GalileaPatricio DueDate:October22,2014
ArticleTitle:SavingtheHoneybee
Author/Source:Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
Whilereadingthearticle,highlightwordsorphrasesthatrequiredefinitionsor
clarifications
WhataretheAUTHORsmajorideas,conceptsorkeypoints?
A:Listthemajorideas,conceptsorkeypointspointbypointExample:
Dave Hackenberg transports his bees to different locations to pollinate plants
o Melons, apples, blueberries, and almonds.
Reports of bee lose in many parts of the world such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,
Europe, and many other regions.
o Many bee colonies die off during the winter
o 1/3 of worlds agricultural production is dependent on the European honeybee
Large monoculture farms require intense pollination for short periods.
o Wild bees and bats are unable to begin and complete the pollination process.
Bees with CCD infested with other pathogens, including a newly discovered virus
Honeybees suffer other ailments that can collapse their colonies
o In 2006 there were 2.4 million colonies less than half than the amount of
colonies in 1949.
o Dramatic winter losses in 2007 and 2008.
Initial theory of the bees mass death varroa mites
o Responsible for the 45% decrease of managed bee colonies between 1987 and
2006.
o Mature females feed on hemolymph bees blood
o Carry viruses and inhibit the hosts immune system
Autopsies done on the bees revealed symptoms not seen from the mites
o Usual diseases nosema, single celled fungal parasites, cause bee dysentery.
o Spores within the bees were not enough to cause great losses.
o All colonies suffered from different viral diseases
Theory of the bees death
o Radiation from cell phones
o Favored theory bees were poisoned by the pollen in genetically modified crops
specifically Bt crops.
o Synthetic poisons acaricides (used for mites) and pesticides
Bt crops contain gene for insecticidal toxin produced by bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis
Poor nutrition and exposure to pesticides weaken colonies and make them susceptible to
viral collapses
Biotech company is developing antiviral medication
Vaccines do not work on honeybees due to their invertebrate immune system
o Does not generate protection against specific agents
B:SummarizetheAUTHORsmainpointorideaatLEAST12paragraphs
Example:SummaryofAuthorsMainPoints:
The sudden decline in bee population in 2006 and throughout the following seasons
created questions on the cause of the massive death of bee colonies. An initial theory for the
death of bees was the nosema, a fungal parasite which cause bee dysentery. An autopsy done
on the bees, however, revealed that the amount of nosema spores in the bees abdomens were
no enough to have killed off so many bees. Researchers concluded that all bee colonies had viral
infections differing from one another. Many other theories developed for the death of the bees
such as radiation from cell phones, the bees were being poisoned by genetically modified crops,
and synthetic poisons such as acaricides and pesticides. Overall the favored theory was that
bees were being poisoned by genetically modified crops such as the Bt crops which contained a
gene for insecticidal toxin that killed any insect that ate it.
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic,
using specific citations from the article to support your views Example: My Own
ThoughtsontheTopic
I find the topic of this article very interesting because bees play an important role in the
growth of agricultural products such as apples, blueberries, melons, and almonds. I think that
the importance of bees is often overlooked and that people are not aware of the magnitude of
their loss. I agree with the possible solution of creating vaccines to prevent viruses from
spreading and therefore causing the collapses of the bee colonies. I believe that the
conservation of bees should be increased by educating the public of the decreasing numbers of
bees and their importance to the environment and agricultural production.
SoWhat?
Without bees agricultural production
as well as the survival of plant species
would be harmed.
SaysWho?
Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis
vanEngelsdorp collaborated with the
search to determine the cause of
death in bee colonies
Whatif..?
Bee colonies continued to decrease.
WhatDoesThisRemindMeOf?
The sudden and mysterious deaths of
other species such as different flocks
of birds.