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Save our bees
More than just a honey maker
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Fields and meadows that once hummed with the buzz of the bumblebee are, these days, notably quieter. It’s all too easy to forget the importance of bees in the ecosystem, but their impact on the human population and the global environment is far more crucial than many would think.
According to the British Beekeepers Association, over a third of the food we eat – and much of it essential in our diets – would not be available without bees. About 70 different crops in the U.K. alone are dependent on visits of bees, be that wild bees or those from beekeepers. Bees are pollinators and facilitate the pollination of most plant life, from the vegetable and fruit crops we depend on to the plants that become to feed of livestock.
Modern farming practices and the introduction of GMO crops and pesticides are some of the leading factors that are causing wild populations of bees to fall dramatically. In the last few decades, increased disturbance of the natural habitats and forage of bees has seen countless wild colonies die out, with pesticides used prolifically in agriculture also having a significantly detrimental effect on their numbers.
‘If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.’ This prediction, famously misattributed to Einstein, is naturally cause for great concern. It is suggested that without bees for pollination, over one hundred thousand plants would not survive, many of which are critical for human survival.
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