Bees?

Bees. They’re known as the yellow, pellet shaped bugs that buzz around in the summertime from flower to flower, terrifying children and squeamish adults while helping the earth grow. They are the subject of millennial jokes, game cards, and how to react to Donald Trump (see New Yorker). Less people know that honeybees are currently under the threat of extinction in America. But how much does the average person know about honeybees anyway?

Honeybees are not native to North America, but were brought over by settlers from Europe (Bugguide). Humans have kept bees since as early as 20,000 BCE, according to melittologist Eva Crane, and may have predated agriculture 12,000 years ago, making farming a possibility (onEARTH). Alongside the 4,000 native species of bees, honey bees pollinate much of the continent’s plantlife. Bees are descended from their less beloved relative wasps. Whereas wasps are carnivores and source their protein from smaller creatures, bees use pollen and nectar from plants. While wasps can use their stingers multiple times, bees can only use theirs once before they die. Bees are nesters, masons, and leafcutters, they are builders and miners in their own hives, they are carpenters and they are foragers.

But how do bees affect our lives? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, honey bees pollinate 80% of U.S. flowering crops, which is one-third of everything we eat. (mother nature network). According to the BBC, bees pollinate 70 of about 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world and honey bees are responsible for $30 billion a year in crops. Many plants are dependent on bees in order to reproduce through cross-pollination. Bee venom even contains medicinal properties and is employed in the treatments of multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, arthritis, sexual dysfunction, cancer, epilepsy, and depression.

My interest in bees stemmed first from my love of gardening. Last year, I even held ambitions of becoming a beekeeper but then the misfortunes of life struck and I was forced to meander a different way. But I was able to interview a local beekeeper who told me a little about why he keeps bees. “They do weird, different things that nobody else does,” said Gaige Mayfair, of Ranaire Village in Chicago. “I like being in nature. It’s really important to me and makes me feel better... And I really like honey!” Gaige has spent most of his life as a writer but in the last decade, he has devoted himself to complex gardening and eating better. Him and his wife, Dessie, collect their food from a local farm and strongly advocate the benefits of eating raw milk. Gaige noted that he also got interested in beekeeping “because you don’t see as many bees now as I used to when I was a kid and it kind of bothers me.”

Gaige’s observation aligns with the recent decline of bees. The awful truth is that one of the threats the planet now faces is the extinction of honeybees. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report in 2015 stated that the loss of honeybees in managed colonies hit 42%. Why are they dying out so quickly? The Independent explains the main cause is colony collapse disorder. This phenomenon is due to an influx in sending out younger, more inexperienced bees to forage due to a decrease in older foragers. But young foragers have a higher risk of death in their first flights and complete less trips. Older bees -- and bees in general -- are dying due to the pesticides now used on crops. According to usnews, much of these deaths can be credited to Neonicotinoids, a chemical used on 140 different crops.

If we lose bees, humans will not go extinct because many staple foods, such as rice and wheat, do not require them. But some of the foods that we will lose are apples, mangos, kiwis, plums, avocados, lima beans, peaches, nectarines, pears, pomegranates, strawberries, onions, cashews, apricots, cactus, kidney beans, cherries, celery, coffee, walnuts, cotton, lychee, sunflower oil, lemons, figs, limes, carrots, palm oil, cucumbers, hazelnuts, fennel, macadamia nuts, cucumbers, coriander, chestnuts, watermelon, coconuts, tangerines, starfruit, beets, mustard seed, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, bok choy, turnips, chili peppers, red peppers, bell peppers, green peppers, papaya, sesame, eggplant, raspberries, elderberries, blackberries, clover, tamarind, cocoa, black eyed peas, vanilla, cranberries, tomatoes, and grapes (NaturalSociety).

Now I know a few people (namely my son and grandson, Nathaniel) who would probably drop dead without coffee, but though it pains me to say it, the world would go on without them. But for those of you who prefer onion in your soups and most of your hot meals, how would you feel going without them? For those of you who need lemon in your water, how would you replace it? For those of you who make cucumber salads or dip your chips in guacamole, what would you do instead? For myself, I think I would miss most the feeling of sitting down after a full day of talking with my grandchildren or gardening, and biting into a fresh slice of canteloupe.

Though it is not feasible for every one of us to consider beekeeping, it is not as difficult an occupation as it seems. Gaige lives in a fairly busy neighborhood of the city and keeps his bees on the roof where they are out of the way of most, but beneficial all around the neighborhood in their travels. One can also help the issue by being more aware of the pesticides that corporate farms apply to their crops, and being more mindful of the corporations they are supporting when they buy groceries.

I am not long for this world, but I do care about my children and grandchildren. If you care about anyone other than yourself or if you care about spicing your meals with peppers or eating fruit salad, I recommend you wake up to the problems facing our society today, and take action.