Endangered Honey Bees!!!

Honey Bees are flying insects. In the animal kingdom they belong to the Phylum Arthropoda and the Class Insecta.They are economically, commercially, and environmentally useful to plant and human life. There are several species of Honey Bees all around the world. Five important species of honey bees are as follows.

1. The rock bee, Apis dorsata (Apidae).
2. The Indian hive bee, Apis cerana indica (Apidae).
3. The little bee, Apis florea (Apidae).
4. The European or Italian bee, Apis mellifera (Apidae).
5. Dammer bee or stingless bee, Melipona irridipennis (Meliporidae).

They live in colonies. They are social insects. We can find them in the flower and fruit gardens, vineyards and orchards. They live in hives constructed in trees out of wax secreted from the wax glands in their abdomen. Bee keeping is called Apiculture. It is a commercial activity of economic importance.

Bees are attracted to the colorful flowers because of their fragrance. They have a special gland called scent gland to smell the scent of flowers. They have long feelers in the head region to suck the nectar from the flowers. During the process the hairy hind legs will be brushed with pollen grains. When they visit another flower to suck nectar, the pollen grains in the legs will fall into the ovary of the flower and bring about pollination. Hence, they are useful to farmers and helpful for agriculture to thrive and flourish.

Honey Bees are the most important insects of our ecosystem, without which agriculture will not survive. Nearly 90% of the flowers are pollinated by Honey Bees. Now we are experiencing the decline of agriculture because Honey Bees are endangered and now we are experiencing Bee's Colonies Collapse Disorder. The reasons for their decline are many. The foremost is the use of chemical insecticides and pesticides. Honey Bees are sensitive to those chemicals and they die.

The next reason is the industrialization of rural areas. Green fields and gardens are destroyed for housing colonies. These housing colonies have replaced Bee colonies. Bio tech crops also have contributed to the death of Honey Bees. The Biotech crops do not attract Bees as the flowers do not have the scent and the honey.

Organic farming is still another reason for the decline of Honey Bees. In this method of farming activity external climatic conditions like temperature, rain, severe heat etc, are controlled, which means that crops are grown under laboratory conditions.

Honey Bees require moderate and cool climate to sustain their life. In this century there is a steep increase in the day temperature by 4 to 7 Degrees due to global warming. So global warming is also another factor for the decline of Honey Bees.

Another very important reason is the ever increasing number of cell phones and the cell phone towers. The powerful radiations and signals emitted by them have caused Honey Bees to forget the route to their hives as Honey Bees move about with the buzzing sound.

The decline of honey Bees is also be due to the parasite called varroa mite, a bloodsucking parasite that attacks young and adult honeybees. Attacked bees often have deformed wings and abdomens and a shorter life span. The varroa mite is also really effective at transmitting disease, particularly viruses. Another major bee pest is the tracheal mite, which gets inside adult bees and clogs their breathing tubes, suffocating the insects.

The death of bees has resulted in poor growth of crops and poor quality of flowers, fruits and vegetables. To put it shortly, agriculture is in crisis. This has resulted in remarkable increase in food price with reduced yield and poor quality of agricultural produce. If the situation is not taken care then the entire bio diversity of the earth will be destroyed.

The rich bio-diversity of the earth has to be preserved. Honey Bees are one of the very important and useful members of this bio-diversity. The most important work of pollinating crops will come to a standstill if they die. Certain permanent measures should be undertaken to restore the population of Honey Bees. The food of these crop pollinators are nectar and pollen. So colorful, attractive flowers rich in nectar, fragrance and pollen grains should be cultivated to attract Honey Bees. A vegetable, flower, or herb garden, with a diverse assortment of plants, is a good source of food for these pollinators.

Sunflower plants are very attractive and rich in nectar and pollen grains. Cultivating them with other crops in different sections of the field in all seasons will increase the number of visiting bees.

Their shelter is a hive usually housed in trees. So trees in the garden should not be cut. Preferably flowering trees should be planted to nurture and nourish the Honey Bees. The dead trees, if any, in the garden should not be cut off. Instead, certain wooden structures may be placed to attract the Honey Bees to build their hives.

The use of chemical pesticides, insecticides and herbicides should be reduced. Excessive chemical herbicides destroy the plant and the insecticides kill the Honey Bees. So these chemicals should be used sparingly. Eco friendly and herbal insecticides and herbicides should used to protect the crop pollinators. We have to till the soil carefully because soil shelters the eggs and young ones of Honey Bees.

Fencing the fields and the gardens with trees and bushes cools the climate, thus optimizing the temperature for breeding of Honey Bees. A fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes with a wide variety of plants that have different flowering seasons will provide a suitable habitat for Honey Bees, increase their population and protect them from natural enemies of crop pests.

Like this, the dwindling population of Honey Bees can be improved by taking appropriate steps. If Apiculture is promoted, the economy and agriculture will prosper. Agriculture and the Bio-diversity of the Earth can be preserved only if Honey Bees are saved from extinction.

"Save Honey Bees to preserve Agriculture"

"Save Agriculture to preserve the Bio-diversity of the Earth"