BEES AND BIODIVERSITY

Matija Golub
Biodiversity is one of the fundamental laws of nature, and its
preservation is of utmost importance. During the last seventy years, it
has been disrupted by human influence, and attempts have been made
to restore it via various projects. Apart from other pollinators, one of the
most important factors of ecosystem biodiversity is the common bee.
In the course of the 20th century and with the rapid development of
science (and its utilization), the number of bees has started to deteriorate
due to insecticides and interference by radiowaves. The deterioration of
their numbers is steadily increasing to this day, significantly impacting
biodiversity.
In order to understand the importance of bees in biodiversity, we must
first define biodiversity itself. The easiest definition, in layman's terms,
would be the natural diversity of all living organisms. The organisms
provide ecosystem services such as the production of oxygen,
pollination, water purification, food production, et cetera. Needless to say,
biodiversity is important- it has an ethical value (conservation of species),
an economic value (raw materials, food production), and an ecological
value. These values make biodiversity indispensable to mankind.
As the most important pollinators, we rely heavily on bees. We depend
on them for 30% of our food; including tree fruit, soft fruit, market garden
food, and others. If they were to disappear completely, many countries
would have to import food and other good on a much larger scale. For
example, Belgium would have to import an extra 40% of its food with all
the ensuing negative effects on energy consumption, economy, health, et
cetera. A recent study at the University of Reading, England, concluded
that Europe would need another 13.4 million collonies of bees for all the
crops to be properly pollinated- that's roughly 7 billion bees.

The economic value of bees isn't to be underestimated, since 84% of

species we cultivate depend on pollinators. The species in question give
us medicines, raw materials, foodstuffs for livestock, biofuels and food.
The global value of the services pollinators provide is estimated to 153
billion Euros per year. While hand-pollination is possible, it's extremely
labour-intensive, slow and expensive; therefore, it also pays off to protect
the bees from an economical standpoint. As pollinators help conserve
flora and fauna, they also indirectly impact the quality of our water, soil
fertility, and climate regulation.
Biodiversity could be immensely disrupted by an extinction of any
species, yet it would be most hurt by the disappearance of bees- or any
other pollinator, for that matter. Sadly, this is a very possible scenario,
due to a phenomenon called CCD Colony Collapse Disorder.
Occasionally, the majority of worker bees in a colony will disappear and
leave the queen and the nurse bees behind. The queen and the nurses
cannot care for themselves, though, and this results in their death in
most scenarios. The main culprit behind this is thought to be pesticide
poisoning, which harms bees worldwide. The solution for this is being
worked on.
To conclude, biodiversity is an important thing humanity couldn't exist
without in a lot of ways, especially economically and ecologically. Bees
are underestimated factors in the grand scheme of things, and their
disappearance would have considerable repercussions for all of mankind
and other species.
Works cited:
http://www.beeodiversity.com/en/issue/issue-pollination-biodiversity-and-our-well-being
http://www.wildernessfoundation.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42:honeybees-show-impact-of-biodiversity-loss&catid=4:in-my-view&Itemid=19
http://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder
http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572
http://sos-bees.org/causes/
https://www.biodiv.org/doc/meetings/sbstta/sbstta-07/official/sbstta-07-09-add1-en.doc%7C