The Beacon Online: Can we be, without the bee?

Are bees crucial to modern society - or must they be replaced?

Well, there are other alternative candidates for employment so...

What are bees to you? Are they a distant trademark of honey brands, or are they just the annoying pests that plague your backyard on a hot, humid day? Or are they, perhaps, reminiscent of the name of a popular spelling competition? Whatever they may mean to you, bees have had a long history with humans dating back almost 7000 years. It all started when men began stealing honey from the hives of wild bees, aptly termed “honey hunting”. This often resulted in the destruction of the bee’s hives. As time passed, men slowly evolved to rear bees for their own convenience, effectively domesticating bees and developing the art of apiculture or beekeeping. However, the beekeeping industry exploded in 1853 when a scientist named Langstroth invented a type of hive that was both efficient and harmless to bees. The population of domesticated bees has rocketed since then, providing a variety of benefits to the human society today. The conundrum is whether their existing and potential contributions have become absolutely vital to human existence - especially during this age of rapidly advancing technology.

Contrary to the popular belief that bees only exist to produce honey, bees are actually most important to humans as pollinators. The reason bees fly from flower to flower is to collect pollen and nectar to nourish larvae in bee colonies, but at the same time they aid in the reproduction of plants through cross-pollination. Did you know that bees pollinate at least eighty percent of the world’s crops? These include apples, oranges, berries, avocados, cucumbers, carrots, and more. Their role is so significant that at present, the production of almonds in the US is virtually completely dependent on bee pollination. As a result, bee pollination generates a whopping $15 billion in the US economy and £200 million in the UK annually.

"Money Bees" - The art of Beeconomics

In addition, bees provide raw materials such as propolis, bee pollen, royal jelly, and of course, honey. Bee products happen to be some of the most nutritious and highly edible insect products in the world, with a range of vitamins and minerals such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and more. Honey is also a staple ingredient in the kitchen as it acts as a natural sweetener. Moreover, bee products are used in soaps and medicine as they possess medicinal properties - surprisingly, bee venom is used to treat depression and arthritis amongst a wide spectrum of diseases. Economically, a rising trend in honey production has been shown in the US with around 150 million pounds of honey produced in 2013; a 5% increase from the previous year.

Another main contribution of bees towards modern society is the generation of jobs. As of 2014, there are around 112000 to 125000 beekeepers in the US alone - and keep in mind that beekeeping has become a worldwide phenomenon for both hobbies and careers. Other jobs that are also created include retailers of bee products, and ironically, specialised pest control as bees tend to build their hives in the nooks and crannies of houses due to the loss of natural habitats. These jobs create revenue and have a hand in the growth of the global economy.

Soon, unemployment will be on the rise for these buzzy fellas

However, a pivotal event that forever altered the course of history of humans and bees recently forced countries to look for possible alternatives to bees. This occurrence was termed Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. It began in 2006 when domestic beekeepers lost thirty to ninety percent of bees in their hives - whole colonies of bees mysteriously left their hives overnight or were found dead in the morning. Eventually, this grew into a global phenomenon and until today numbers continue to dwindle. Scientists suspect that CCD transpired due to an amalgamation of factors; namely, farm pesticides, destruction of their natural habitats, diseases, and parasites (specifically the Varroa mite). To put things into perspective, statistics from the USDA show that bee populations plunged from 6 million in 1947 to 2.4 million in 2008 - a decline of sixty percent from the original population. For this reason, a few innovative ways have been explored by various countries to deal with the worldwide decline in bee populations.

A fall in variable factors of production will cause productivity to plummet

One alternative to bees is hand pollination, which is mainly carried out in China. This method effectively replaces bees with humans. Workers manually dust pollen from flower to flower to aid cross-pollination. This is useful to developing economies in reducing major unemployment, caused by both the doubling of total human population in the last five decades and a trailing rate of job production. The only limitation is that workers are only able to pollinate about 30 trees daily as seen in China, while bees are able to pollinate about 300 million flowers.

"Ho! Humans, thy productivity shalt never surbuzz me!"

Furthermore, modern technology is a medium that is more widely applicable to all countries through the development of genetic engineering. In the food industry, genetic engineering involves the alteration of DNA of crops to produce higher yields. Therefore, less bee pollination is needed as the same amount of crops are able to generate more products than before. Other insect pollinators can also be relied on for cross-pollination, such as butterflies. However, some crops that are only specific to bee pollination may suffer.

In conclusion, while there are sound concepts for alternatives, practicality of these alternatives falls short of being economically and ecologically beneficial at present. The contributions of bees to modern society are clearly irreplaceable and vital to the continuation of modern society; and thus, bees present a compelling argument for their conservation. However, few know of the plight of the bees - and fewer are aware of the steps we can take to help them. Albert Einstein was once rumoured to say, “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left.” So now that you have read about their silent struggle, will you still try to swat them away when they buzz around your garden? Will you entertain second thoughts when spraying your flowers with pesticide? Will you still scream about bee stings and call for their extinction? And most importantly, will you join me in spreading word about the bees? I hope you do, dear reader. I hope you do. But if you were to tuck this article in the corners of your mind - as most of us often do - then at least remember this:

We cannot be, without the bee.