When I was three, I was stung by a bee in my backyard. I remember crying and screaming in the backyard until my mom found me and took me inside. She took the stinger out, and left me with an ice pack to heal the wound. I have hated bees ever since. If a bee flies towards me, you will see me run in the opposite direction.
However, I am sure many of you have recently seen at least one post on social media about the endangered bees. This year, the bees have officially been added to the endangered list. Unfortunately, some of the truth got lost in the circulating posts on Facebook and Twitter. There are about 4,000 species of bees native to North America and out of those, 7 species were placed on the endangered species list: (Hylaeus anthracinus, Hylaeus longiceps, Hylaeus assimulans, Hylaeus facilis, Hylaeus hilaris, Hylaeus kuakea, and Hylaeus mana). They were the first bees that were ever declared as endangered. However, the population of bees are starting to decline possibly due to climate change, pesticides, and loss of flower meadows. Either way, it’s still a wake up call.
Some people may not realize how serious a problem it would be if bees went extinct. Think back to your elementary science class. Bees pollinate flowers and plants to help them grow. When the plants and crops grow, they become our food, or they become food for the animals we eat. Since bees pollinate about 70% of our crops which feed about 90% of the animals, we would all be in big trouble if the bees went extinct. We would not have enough food to feed a population of about seven billion people.
So what can you do to help save the bees? Here are some easy solutions:
1. Plant herbs and flowers that bees are especially attracted to.
2. Do not remove weeds – they are actually helpful in some cases.
3. Try not to use pesticides on your lawn or flowers because it kills the bees. Not only are they bad for them, but when it rains the pesticide can wash off into the sewer causing even more problems to the environment.
4. One really easy tip is to leave a small basin of water or sugar water out in your front yard. The bees can use it to freshen up.
5. One last thing is to remember that the honeybees are not trying to hurt you. They just want to live their own life; they only sting you if they feel threatened, so don’t kill them for no reason.
Here at USFSP, we can do our part by planting flowers on our campus that attract bees. We have a butterfly garden on campus, and some of the plants in there can attract the little insects. Let’s all make a move to save the bees. As an environmentally friendly campus, we need to be more aware of how our actions are affecting the environment. Let’s start by saving the bees!
HC xoxo,
Alyssa Harmon
Sources:
http://www.snopes.com/bee-species-endangered/
http://www.sciencealert.com/seven-species-of-bees-have-been-added-to-the-endangered-species-list
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140502-what-if-bees-went-extinct
http://www.queenofthesun.com/get-involved/10-things-you-can-do-to-help-bees/