Humans are making it hard for bees to be

Billions of humans (and even more animals) would die if it weren’t for bees pollinating most of the earth’s plants. Their lives help maintain the biodiversity of the natural world. And sadly, their population has been in decline for awhile now and the momentum towards their demise is still growing. It seems that every time scientists find a cause, another one pops up. What we’re discovering, and it’s a terrifying discovery for a world with already so many issues to solve, is that bees are feeling many unique pressures in their environment caused by our lifestyle.

In the early 2000’s, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was observed, a strange phenomenon whereby the majority of honey bees in a colony leave their hive, their queen and plenty of food. Many studies have been conducted to find the cause of CCD—it is important to note that CCD is at the pinnacle of our fears about bees ceasing to pollinate plants, but there are also many factors negatively impacting a bees ability to pollinate in general. 

While CCD is the “buzz-phrase” of our worries surrounding the declining bee population, we know that humanity has directly and indirectly created many stressors in their lives. Across all studies into CCD, environmental stress has been found as the most likely cause.

In order to understand why our lifestyle is stressing bees out, I’ve simplified the long list of man-made bee stressors into three categories:  CO2 Saturation, Toxicity, Frequency. 

CO2 SATURATION STRESS: BEES SUFFER MALNUTRITION

The newest addition to possible causes of CCD is the CO2 buildup in our atmosphere. Natural disasters and unusual weather patterns have been taking much of the focus in discussions about climate change. However, one of the most alarming facts about climate change is the impact CO2 has on nutrient levels in food (for humans and bees alike).

A mathematician named Irakli Loladze has been working with biologists to understand the impact of rising CO2 levels in our atmosphere. Loladze discovered that the massive CO2 levels we have today actually help plants grow faster and healthier, but severely diminishes their nutrient content. Industrial pollution due to our lifestyle of consumption is causing our food to be less rich in the nutrients we depend on, specifically protein, iron and zinc. 

What does this mean for bees? Well, Loladze decided to test the nutrient content of goldenrod, a plant that produces protein pollen for bees, and compare it to tests conducted on goldenrod at the turn of the twentieth century. What he and his team found was that the protein content of goldenrod pollen has declined by a third since the industrial revolution, tracking well with the increase of CO2 levels. If bees become sick as a consequence of rising CO2 levels, we lose our pollinators and ultimately billions of us would starve. 

The silver lining… Many people today have already made it their mission to help curb extreme climate change. If we’re successful in changing our lifestyles and in turn, demanding less industrial production and CO2 emitting practices, we can halt the CO2 buildup in our atmosphere and bees will have less of a potential to die from nutrient-deficiency. 

TOXICITY STRESS: BEES ARE BEING POISONED 

Industrial agriculture is the jewel of our modern times, yet the bane of a bee’s existence. According to an article published last year by theguardian.com, “Agriculture in the United States has become 48 times more toxic to insects [including bees] over the last 25 years.” 

Farmers are no different than anyone else who wishes to progress and develop more efficient ways of working. However, since the industrial revolution, the implications of using pesticides and herbicides in our agricultural practices have not been sufficiently discussed. We now know of the heavy toll that these practices create in the environment—with bees being poisoned, the toll could be devastating for our survival as a species. 

The silver lining… Now that we are aware that pesticides and herbicides create tremendous imbalances in nature, we can make a conscious effort to change our agricultural practices. Industrial farming is sacrificing environmental sustainability for bigger yields and faster harvests. We know we need to change this, and when we do, bees can finally be, without the stress of man-made poisons. 

 FREQUENCY STRESS: BEES ARE CONFUSED

Pesticides are made to kill insects, so it’s easy to connect the dots between the declining population of bees and pesticides. A more insidious stressor than pesticides, is electromagnetic radiation. For years we’ve read about studies that suggest the harmful effects of microwaves and cell phone radiation in humans, but what about the animals that rely on electromagnetic waves for navigation in the natural world?

Bees are one such animal that can sense extremely low frequencies (ELF) for navigational purposes, most importantly to track distance from their hive and plan foraging expeditions. Cell phone towers, power lines and even cordless phones have all been found to cause bees stress since their frequency conflicts with the natural frequencies of the earth.

A study conducted in 2018 and published in natureresearch journal, made the discovery that “ELF exposure [to bees] was found to reduce learning, alter flight dynamics, reduce the success of foraging flights towards food sources, and feeding.” While many studies have come to the conclusion that electromagnetic radiation is most likely not the cause of CCD, it is certainly causing confusion in a bees natural process. 

The silver lining… While we become better technologists as well as environmentalists, we’ll discover the conflict between our ambitions in technology and the natural world. With more sustainable-minded people, we’ll create ways for technology to work with nature. This means positioning communication towers in more appropriate, less-damaging places and developing products that can live alongside nature in harmonious ways.

Knowledge is power. And so, we must responsibly use our knowledge about the declining bee population and be critical about how our lifestyles are contributing to it. While some theories posit mites and disease as the cause of CCD, many of the stressors of bees are man-made and can be removed only if we change the way we live. 

We must always remember that saving the bees is on our path to saving ourselves.