The Bees Disappearing 

The humble bumble bee that you see in the spring time bopping from one flower to another in its daily routine is slowly diminishing. I remember catching them in a jar when I was young an examining them through the glass, pleasant looking insects with tiny little wings. The law of physics forbids this insect from taking flight but the humble bumble bee doesn’t take orders from anybody, and continues to fly around regardless. Even I have noticed, without paying much attention to it that their population has declined dramatically over the years. Where have they all gone one wonders.

There are many theories for their disappearance of all kinds of speices of bee but none could be explained, some reckon that mobile phones are to blame and the radiation from them are throwing them off which could be a liable reason because, in the early eighties when I was growing up the skies were abundant with the little fellows, not many people had mobile phones back then. These days everyone has a mobile phone and telecom masts are scattered around countries worldwide not leaving any safe haven for their populations to flourish. The scientists predict that phones could be throwing off their navigation systems leaving them disorientated.

Image via flickr

Another reason is mites, maybe they have been affected by little mites, causing them to stress out and get frustrated and confused, and ultimately resulting in the discovery of stress levels in the dying bees. This is a plausible explanation but not proven. As results prove over and over that stress levels are present in dying bees but we just cant put our finger on why.

Pesticides that are sprayed on crops are to blame in another study. Scientists are convinced in parts of the world that some pesticides that are being used are killing off the bees. In some parts of the world this is true but there are dead bodies to prove that fact. What about the rest of the world though where there are no bodies, it would seem that they are just not reproducing.

Image via flickr

Some people point the finger at global warming which in itself hasn’t been proven, okay the planet is heating up but its cooling down in other places of the globe. The carbon factor in our atmosphere is our fault but the global warming factor I’m not so sure. I read somewhere that the planet goes through a cycle just like back in the ice age, where it killed off the dinosaurs. Maybe the bees are more prone to the cold than other species and die off first but wouldn’t other similar species get affected too like the wasp. Again this is a good reason but with little knowledge that we have about them its hard to determine.

Genetically Modified Crops in some other research shows that bees numbers are down that statement answers itself really. What is the point in hanging around if there is nothing to do, they have already been pollinated genetically. That would explain why the numbers are down in those areas, but these are just small fractions of the worlds surface area and this is a global problem. I would rule this one out as a problem more of a hindrance, in this case humans forced them out because bees love to work and if there is no work there are no bees.

Image via flickr

In Germany there was a study carried out, more of an experiment of bees around power lines. This study proved that the bees acted confused and their navigation system was all muddled up. Proof of stress ad confusion was concluded. These power lines stretch the length of the country in all different directions for as long as I can remember and longer. But the bees have been living on the edge of extinction in the lst few years. I wouldn’t use this as a factor id be more inclined to turn to the mobile phones as a higher risk simply because of the fact that bees wouldn’t be nesting near power lines if it causes them confusion.

Predators are a common factor in most parts of the world of the disappearance of colonial and bumble bees. In warmer parts of the world they come under attack from African Bees and Killer Bees that force them out of an area or simply killi them off. Again in this case there are bodies to account for such tragedy and little hope for the bees in warmer climates. In cooler climates the number of bees are dropping without the help of such predators.

Image via flickr

Its vitally important that a conclusion is reached soon, we rely on bees for most of our foods, from breakfast cereals to dinner vegetables to snacks in between. Genetically modified crops are starting to take off rapidly because of supply and demand, there is something array with the bees and they are not able to keep up with falling numbers. I read some where why don’t we just genetically modify bees. There is a simple explanation that goes along with that “modify them to suit what condition” we have to find the root of the problem first. You cant just modify them for all conditions, have you ever been driving along and you hit a bee with your wind screen, they burst don’t they, if you modify the bee the next time you hit one it could tear the roof off the car. Okay they wouldn’t but you get the gist of it, plus you cant just go around modifying nature.

People should just live in the world as we found it and stop trying to play God as the saying goes. Humans just advanced in the last 40 years rapidly even more than the stone age to 40 years ago. Its the biggest jump in history with little regard for the planet or its other inhabitants for selfish and personal gains. There will come a time when we’ll have nothing else to do only look back and wonder where it all went wrong, should this be the way forward. People don’t realise how important bees are to this planet, and you’ll find these are the people that are making all these major decisions to jump forward so quickly.

Image via flickr