Environmental Crisis likely Causing the Collapse of Colonies
Bees have found themselves in the news a lot of late. Unfortunately, that’s one of the few places they’ve been found. The pesky bugs are integral to the environment, and the disappearance of bees can have intense ramifications. Honeybees have perhaps gotten the most attention in the media, but wild bees and bumblebees have been going through a major decline as well. Researchers have been working tirelessly to try and pin down a motive for the disappearance of bees, and they finally have found a major reason for the shrinking in bumblebee populations. A new study in the journal Science concluded that the disappearance of bees, specifically bumblebees, stems from climate change affecting the major geographic regions bumblebees reside in.
The Study On Bumblebee Disappearances
Scientists researched 67 species of bumblebees found in their most common regions – Europe and North America. What they found in this study is that the disappearance of bees was most prevalent in the south. Even more concerning, the bumblebees were not migrating north. In the southern ranges of Europe and North America, bumblebees have lost up to 300 kilometers, this from a study that examined the disappearance of bees over 110 years. That could sound like a lot of time, but in the grand scheme of earth, a disappearance of bees of that magnitude in just 100 years is staggering. This specific disappearance of bees also, frustratingly, doesn’t have any relation to pesticides or the changing of land use, arguably problems with a more immediate solution. Lead researcher Jeremy Kerr urged newer strategies and solutions to help the problem.
How Do Scientists Want To Help Fix the Disappearance of Bees?
Kerr believes that human intervention could possibly needed to help some bees migrate north. However, a forced migration could be a bit extreme, and the effects of it would need to be studied carefully one colony at a time. Better protection is probably needed to help slow down the disappearance of bees in the meantime. Ultimately, the best course of action for now would be to continue doing our part to help the environment, lest the disappearance of bees does more damage than it already has.
