What's the Buzz About Bees?

Ouch! It stung me.

Bees may seem pesky — buzzing around sugary snacks, hiding in grasses, and defending with stings that inject itchy venom.

But did you know that bees are vital to growing the world’s food? According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), about every three mouthfuls of food that you eat depends on honey bees. They help produce foods like apples, watermelon, peppers, broccoli, peaches, berries, avocados, and even almonds.

BEES’ BIG BUSINESS

Honey bees are pollinators. Bees collect nectar from flowers. As they drink the sweet liquid, pollen clings to bees’ legs and bodies. By buzzing between plants, bees unknowingly move pollen from one plant to another. This movement of pollen fertilizes plants and allows them to produce seeds and fruits. Over 100 foods grown in the United States need bees to pollinate them, reports the USDA.

The USDA also shares that the country has 4,000 native species of bees, but wild bees cannot pollinate all of the country’s food — too many crops and not enough wild bees. So farmers call in professional beekeepers and their bee colonies to help pollinate fruits and vegetables.

Beekeepers and their colonies are quite the travelers. In February, beekeepers load their colonies on trucks and head west to California to pollinate almond trees. Then, beekeepers go south to pollinate citrus trees in Florida. Beekeepers transport their colonies up the east coast to work on apple, peach, and blueberries pollination in the summer. After months of travel, the bees return home for the winter.

BEES IN DANGER

Over the last 15 years, scientists noticed a significant decline in the number of honey bees, according to National Geographic. Between 2018 and 2019, the population of honey bees decreased by almost half. Scientists call this rapid decrease Colony Collapse Disorder. Colony Collapse Disorder happens when a colony’s worker bees vanish. Worker bees serve the colony by collecting food and protecting the hive. Without worker bees, the whole colony dies.

The leading cause of Colony Collapse Disorder is a deadly parasite called varroa mite. This parasite is a tiny, tick-like bug that attacks bees and feeds on their blood. Untreated, this parasite can kill a honey bee colony in just a few days.

Another threat to honey bees is pesticides or chemicals that farmers spray on crops to kill unwanted bugs. Although pesticides are not used to kill bees, some pesticides are harmful to these essential pollinators. Pesticides also kill weeds and flowers that grow at the edges of fields where bees collect nectar. Less food for bees leads to the collapse of bee colonies.

The death of honey bees means that fewer bees pollinate fruits and vegetables. And many of the foods we love and depend on could become more costly.

PROTECTING HONEY BEES

Beekeepers and scientists are working to save honey bees. Beekeepers are learning to identify and treat colonies for parasites. Scientists are figuring out how to replace harmful pesticides with more bee-friendly chemicals and how to spray pesticides in smaller doses, so that pesticides do not kill bees or the food they eat. Additionally, beekeepers and scientists encourage people to cultivate habitats that are healthy for bees. Gardening and planting wildflowers in communities provide bees with homes and food for their colony.