PSH100A Environmental
Studies
Warner Pacific
College
August 4, 2014
Natural Resources
“It’s
not about the honey, unless you are Pooh bear,” says the National Resource and
Defense Council (2008). In the
past decade the honey bee population has been dying off and not many people
really notice it unless you are in the bee business. Bees don’t just make honey – they are our number one
pollinator, in addition to some other 200,000 species ranging from bees to
birds and insects.
It
started in 2006 when colonies worker bees started dying off. Colonies would lose 30-90% of their bee
population. The cause of the
deaths was coming from Colony Collapse Disorder (CDC). The collapse continued to happen for
the next six years.
Over
the past several years this has prompted scientist to research what is going on
and what is causing the honey bee death toll to rise. It was imperative to find out what the cause was because
honey bees are responsible for pollinating approximately $30 billion worth of
U.S. crops. Honey bees dying off
had the same effect that the drought of 2012 did for corn crop production. It was imperative to find out what
killing bees and killing potential crops.
At this point bee keepers need to research out for some external
assistance.
In
2007 the USDS led the federal government in an action plan t and a co-chaired
workshop of scientist to develop a Colony Collapse Disorder Action Plan
(USDA.gov). Some people may wonder
why we should care about what happens to the honey bees – bees are responsible
for the natural pollination of billions of dollars in harvestable crops on a yearly
basis. Some of the crops that are
seriously affected by the natural pollination of bees are almonds, and other
tree nuts, fruits, berries and vegetables. We need them to sustain our environment and they are a vital
role to the U.S. alone as a natural resource. Since 2006 the USDA has been testing the deceased bees to
determine the root cause of death.
Some speculation as to what was causing the wide spread death was the
use of pesticides, but others say it could be the parasite Varro mites.
In
2010 a risk assessment was performed to determine what was affecting the honey
bees and a protection plan was introduced. The protection plan stated that as a vital environmental
resource we need to first understand the impact the honey bee plans on our economy
and livelihood. Second was to
increase our knowledge of the organism that potentially comes in contact with
the bees, like pesticides or parasites to develop protection from those
elements. Third was to make sure
there was a proportionate level of control in place agriculturally on what
types of pesticides are being used and tested (Moriarty, 2011).
Honey
bees are just as much a natural resource as timber is and we need to take care
of all natural resources. In
Oregon along timber generates $5.2 billing in total income, but where will that
income come from once timber sources are depleted? That is yet to be determined. However statistically over the last fifty years the overall
acreage of landscape if time has not changed much. This is such a vital part to the economy and beauty of
Oregon that we have to continue to be aware of our natural surroundings and
make sure we grow and renew them in a timely manner so they are
sustainable.
References
Moriarty,
Thomas (Janurary, 2011). Pesticide Risk Assessment for Pollinatiors: Summary of
SETAC Pellston Workshop. Seatac
Press. Washington DC. http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.setac.org/resource/resmgr/publications_and_resources/executivesummarypollinators_.pdf?hhSearchTerms=SETAC+and+Pellston+and+Workshop
[retrieved
on August 4, 2014]
National
Resource and Defense Council. (September, 2008) It’s not about the honey http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0809.asp
[retrieved on August 3 , 2014]
USDA.gov (June 20,2014)
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