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Thursday, August 1, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION

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the University of Michigan since 1890.

 ERIN WHITE
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ANNE ELSE | COLUMN
I

n the winter of 2018, a 
record 
number 
of 
bee 
colonies 
died 
in 
the 
United States. Beekeepers lost 
a daunting near 40 percent of 
their honeybee colonies due to 
a few detrimental factors. The 
threat to bees has been an issue 
for many years and may create 
drastic changes to the fabric 
of human agriculture. Yet, this 
topic is often overlooked or not 
met with the immediate action 
it deserves.
Our 
bee 
neighbors 
may 
not 
be 
human, 
but 
their 
services to the human race are 
unparalleled. They provide vast 
pollination across the country. 
Of the 369,000 plant species, 
90 
percent 
are 
dependent 
on pollination via insects. If 
bees continue to die out, wild 
flora and crops will become 
less healthy and unviable for 
commerce. Without the insect 
pollination, 
plants 
would 
remain unfertilized and would 
not be able to produce seeds. It is 
clear that the wellbeing of bees 
is integral to plant life. If plants 
are neglected and pollinators 
are unable to continue their 
job, farmers and markets will 
lose product. This chain of 
events could lead to diminished 
access to healthy and fresh 
foods and a destruction of the 
economic market. These real 
threats, as well as the looming 
endangerment 
of 
bees, 
are 
enough for me to believe that 
we need to work to save our 
pollinators.

The few ways to directly 
protect bees are, unfortunately, 
outisde 
of 
most 
people’s 
control. For example, farmers 
and industries should not use 
pesticides, 
neonicotinoids 
or 
GMOs as they can harm bees’ 
immune 
systems, 
and 
even 
kill them, if in contact with 
a 
chemically 
covered 
plant. 
Of course, the decision to use 
these chemicals is entirely at 
the discretion of the farmer or 
owner. They may decide the 
benefits of pesticides outweigh 
the risks of killing bees. Yet, 
this outlook seems ironic since 
killing bees will eventually lead 
to the decreased pollination and 
death of plants. It is a cycle that 
everyone should be educated on 
to understand the consequences 
attached to spraying pesticides.
The fight against pesticides 
has been difficult. Even though 
there is an abundant amount 
of evidence that pesticides are 
harmful, there has been very 
little action taken to eradicate 
their use. Maryann Frazier, a 
retired associate at the College 
of 
Agricultural 
Sciences 
at 
Pennsylvania State University, 
discusses this issue. She stated 
“I don’t expect to see a change in 
losses over time for this reason. 
There’s 
been 
no 
significant 
effort to correct what’s causing 
the decline … There’s a huge 
amount of data (and) research 
showing 
pesticides 
are 
a 
significant player in the decline 
of honeybees and other insect 
species. And yet there’s been 

so little done to make a change 
on that front. The EPA has been 
incredibly ineffective.”
Pesticide 
industry 
leaders 
seem to be avoiding the negative 
effects 
their 
products 
have 
on wildlife. Pesticides are the 
start of a downward spiral for 
the safety of bees and plants. 
According to Frazier, important 
figures tend to cover up their 
own business and hand in the 
destruction of bees by pointing 
out Varroa mites and viruses.
Varroa mites, viruses and 
other pests are a danger to 
bees and their hives. Parasites 
attack honeybees and kill them 
off at alarming rates. This 
natural invasion of a honeybee 
hive definitely plays a role in 
decreasing 
bee 
populations, 
but 
the 
fact 
that 
powerful 
leaders in business and politics 
shift their institutional harm 
onto these faceless parasites 
is irresponsible. People who 
hold positions of power in the 
pesticide industry or in the 
EPA should be owning up to the 
impacts humans have on climate 
change and wildlife. Due to the 
fact that climate change alters 
seasonal timing, flowers and 
crops are blooming at different 
rates. This unpredictable effect 
makes it difficult for bees to 
pollinate correctly and in a 
timely 
manner. 
Government 
figures have the means to enact 
sustainable policies for the crop 
industry and could be pouring 
their resources into saving our 
natural pollinators.

Bee kind to pollinators

Since 
we 
cannot 
always 
rely on industry bosses to 
make changes for the future 
of bees, community members 
are beginning to take mat-
ters into their own backyards. 
Stuart Anderson invented a 
way to make beekeeping more 
accessible to homes around the 
world. He invented the “Flow 
Hive,” which allows the keeper 
to pull a lever and release the 
delicious, flowing honey. They 
have managed to already sell 
thousands of hives in 130 coun-
tries across the world. This 
invention creates an ease for 
beekeepers, and I think this 
ease will incentivize beekeep-
ing even more.

If more people can learn 
about the importance of bees, 
plant flowers for them and even 
keep hives in their yards, bee 
genetic diversity will increase 
around the world. This diver-
sity will ultimately help bees 
fortify their immune systems, 
strengthen colonies and resist 
the harms of pesticides. The 
backyard hobby of beekeeping 
contributes to an important 
cause and helps pollinators and 
plant diversity. Let us all bring 
bees into our communities and 
live under the realm of their 
golden glide.

Anne Else can be reached at 

aelse@umich.edu.

Design by Kathryn Halverson

