Bees might not bring much attention to themselves, but they are some of nature’s most indispensable creatures. You see, these little fuzzy friends are responsible for a third of all the food we consume.
Bees’ role in pollination
You might have heard that bees are pollinators. Here’s how it works: Much like people, plants generally don’t reproduce by themselves. Instead, they need to mix genetic material with other plants before they can create seeds. That’s where the bees come in.
When plants create pollen, they are actually releasing their genetic material out into the world. So when a bee collects the pollen from a series of flowers, they are inadvertently spreading plant DNA to plant after plant after plant. The more genetic diversity a plant has access to, the healthier and more fertile its seeds are likely to be.
Bees and food
Bees’ status as superstar pollinators means that many plants depend on them to reproduce. That includes many of the foods we eat. The United Nations estimates that a full 75% of fruit and seed crops benefit from pollination.
The list of foods requiring bees is extensive: almonds, squash, strawberries, apples and onions, to name just a few. Many of these foods require the services of wild bees, who have evolved specifically to pollinate a single kind of plant.
And of course, that’s even to mention honey, the tasty and nutritious food produced exclusively by bees.
Bees are, in short, a keystone of both the environment and agriculture. They are responsible for feeding millions of humans every year. Few of us can go a single day without eating a food that bees helped grow.
Bees are worth protecting
But bees aren’t just valuable because of the services they provide for us. Even if they did nothing to help our survival, they would still be worth preserving as a remarkable and unique species.
For example, they use something called the “waggle dance” to give their fellow bees complex instructions on how to find flowers. Such a sophisticated level of communication is all the more impressive considering the bees’ small size.
There are more than 20,000 species of bees, and each one has fascinating qualities. For example, the Himalayan giant honey bee is the largest known bee species, as big as a person’s thumb, and its honey has hallucinogenic properties. Bees never cease to amaze.
The threats bees face
Bees have been around for more than a hundred million years, but today, they face grave threats. Habitat loss, disease and especially neonicotinoid pesticides (also known as neonics) are to blame. Neonics are among the most commonly-used pesticides, but they have had a devastating effect on the nervous system of any bee unlucky enough to be exposed.
In part because of neonics, bee numbers have plummeted in recent years. The American bumblebee, for example, has declined by 90% in recent years.
The loss of the bees would be an immense tragedy, and it would have serious consequences on both our environment and our lives. That’s why we are working to limit the use of neonics and help the bees continue to pollinate in peace.
