Been reading some articles on the severe decline in bee population across the globe. How are these little guys important to us other than to sting intruders of their colonies?
2007-04-10 09:58:38 · 9 answers · asked by Jerry H 5 in Environment
Holy ****, so you're telling me that mankind and animal life and even plant life depends on these guys buzzing around? I never thought of that!!!
2007-04-10 10:07:24 · update #1
bees help polinate plants. some flower farms use bees to help in the propagation of flowers. and they also get honey as bonus.
2007-04-10 19:22:14 · answer #1 · answered by jump 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Food, food, food. Not just for people, either. A couple of my environmental science students actually said that when the bees are all gone then the orchards can just hire all the unemployed people to pollinate the apple trees and the strawberry plants, etc. They really didn't see that it's a much bigger job than that. Are they pollinating the soybeans? And what would we be willing to pay for an apple? Their response was, "Nobody would let somebody starve just because they couldn't afford the food." Ah, youth. I forget sometimes how naive they can be. While I hate to burst the bubble, somebody has to help them get a clue!
2007-04-10 17:54:25 · answer #2 · answered by ecolink 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Every species on earth plays a role in our ecosystem. As has been pointed out, bees are important for polination of crops and are essential to the food chain.
Our environment is like a piece of woven fabric - Each part depending on other parts to provide structure and stability. How many threads can be removed before the entire thing falls apart?
2007-04-10 18:10:58 · answer #3 · answered by Mark S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bees are used as pollinators for many common agricultural crops, and they can also be used for natural pest control (they can kill many of the organisms that would otherwise destroy crops). For these reasons, some countries have developed bee transport industries, that ship bees around to the locations that need them in any given season. This practice was apparently even used in some ancient countries. The value of these bee services to the US economy alone is in the tens of billions of dollars a year.
And then there's honey :)
2007-04-10 17:07:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A great deal of the plant world reproduces through bees spreading pollen from flower to flower on their hairy legs, in addition to the honey that they make.
Fruits, vegatables, and flowers are helped to reproduce by bees.
Yes, we need them!
2007-04-10 17:03:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
what about honey?
a quote i heard somwhere
If humans were to be wiped off the face of the earth it would return to a tropical oasis it once was if insects faced the same fate it would be the end of life as we know it disease would spread due to poor waste decomposition, plants would die due to the lack of pollination, animals would die due to lack of plant life it goes on
2007-04-10 17:24:33 · answer #6 · answered by yadim . 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They pollinate crops. Without bees we would have no fruit and many other plants. Corn is wind pollinated though, so that is safe.
2007-04-10 17:05:36 · answer #7 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
first of all, they are GIRLS, noy guys... every working bee is female. And they pollinate a large amount of plants, including crops of economic interest.
2007-04-10 17:18:32 · answer #8 · answered by Alex Ortiz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the birds and the bees. without flowers and trees we all die
2007-04-10 17:26:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋