Why the World Needs Honeybees为什么世界需要蜜蜂

Isabelle Tavares 李金倍

Youd be surprised by how much we rely on honeybees！

你会惊讶我们居然如此依赖蜜蜂！

Honeybees are extraordinarily important to the worlds food supply. Nearly $20 billion of the value of U.S. crop production is because of honeybees. One out of every three bites of food we take is pollinated1 by honeybees. Foods like berries2， nuts， fruits， vegetables， honey， and coffee wouldnt exist without them.

蜜蜂对世界粮食供应极为重要。美国农作物产值的近200亿美元来自蜜蜂。我们三分之一的食物是由蜜蜂授粉的。浆果、坚果、水果、蔬菜、蜂蜜和咖啡等食物如果没有蜜蜂就无法生存。

A colony3 is composed of about 50，000 honeybees that live in a hive4 with divided roles—as a family does， said Hilary Kearney， bee education specialist and author. The queen is the single reproductive5 bee in the colony and keeps the cycle of death and birth in balance. Every day， nearly half of the colony leaves the hive to forage6. As the honeybees gather pollen7 and nectar8， they pollinate crops and then bring the food home for the hive.

蜜蜂專家和作家希拉里·卡尼说，蜂群由生活在一个蜂巢中的大约50000只蜜蜂组成，就像一个家庭一样，有各自的分工。蜂后是蜂群中唯一有繁殖能力的蜜蜂，它维持着蜂群生死的平衡。每天，近一半的蜂群离开蜂巢觅食。当蜜蜂采集花粉和花蜜时，它们也是在给农作物授粉，然后他们会把食物带回蜂巢。

Whats causing the decline of honeybee populations？

是什么导致了蜜蜂数量的下降？

Many things： pesticides9， loss of habitat， climate change， lack of younger beekeepers to name a few. For example， when a bee encounters pesticides， it brings the poisoned nectar to the nest which affects the colony. And thats only if theyre about to get back to the hive—bees may never return because the poison affects their navigation10 skills. Kearney said， “I dont think people are aware of what theyre using， and they dont understand whats happening.” Kearney explained it increases the chance of queen death. If the queen dies， so does the colony. But， Kearney said this incident alone is not enough for them to come tumbling down. “It takes a few more stressors， like a cold winter combined with pesticides， to knock them out，” Kearney explained.

Marni Majorelle， a green roof specialist， believes one of the main issues contributing to the decline of honey bee populations is the loss of natural habitat11. “Were losing huge areas of natural habitat （including native plants） to invasive12 species， suburban sprawl13， and the building of concrete，” Majorelle said.

And those funky weather patterns weve been experiencing as of late？ Bees are so closely tied to the weather that weather changes make it harder for them to survive， Kearney said. The fires， floods， long winters， and hot summers directly affect the number of flowers bees need to pollinate. Kearney has seen seven years of drought14 in California during her nine years as a beekeeper. She said that means theres no food available for them， and beekeepers had to feed bees with sugar water.

有很多因素导致了蜜蜂数量下降：杀虫剂，栖息地丧失，气候变化，缺少年轻的养蜂人等等。例如，当蜜蜂遇到杀虫剂时，它会把有毒的花蜜带到巢中进而影响到蜂群。这还只是它们会回到蜂巢的情况——蜜蜂也有可能再也回不来，因为毒素会影响它们的导航技能。卡尼说：“我认为人们并没意识到自己在使用什么，也不明白会发生什么。”卡尼解释说，杀虫剂增加了蜂后死亡的几率。如果蜂后死了，蜂群也会灭亡。

但是，卡尼说，单是这一事件不足以让它们倒下。卡尼解释说：“加上更多的压力，比如寒冬再加上杀虫剂，才会击倒它们。”

屋顶绿化专家玛尼·马约雷尔认为，导致蜜蜂数量下降的主要问题之一是自然栖息地的丧失。马约雷尔说：“入侵物种、城市拓展，以及建筑混凝土正在夺去大量蜜蜂（及原生植物）的自然栖息地。”

还有我们最近经历的那些奇怪的天气模式。卡尼说，蜜蜂与天气的关系十分密切，因此天气变化会使它们更难以生存。火灾、洪水、漫长的冬天和炎热的夏天会直接影响蜜蜂需要授粉的花的数量。卡尼在加州当养蜂人的九年时间里，经历了七年的干旱。她说这意味着蜜蜂没有食物，养蜂人只好用糖水喂蜜蜂。

What would the world look like without honeybees？

没有蜜蜂世界会是什么样子？

Experts say there would be a sharp decrease in delicious fruits and vegetables. “I dont think anyone knows the answer， but the cost of food would go up because farmers would have to start hand pollinating，” Kearney said. “Honey bees are contributing to not only food but other plants that rely on insect pollination—if we were to lose honey bees we would lose the plants.”

专家说美味的水果和蔬菜会急剧减少。“我认为没人知道答案，但食品的成本会上升，因為农民必须开始人工授粉。”卡尼说，“蜜蜂不仅与食物息息相关，也与其他依靠昆虫授粉的植物息息相关。如果我们失去蜜蜂，我们就会失去这些植物。”

Other bees are important， too.

其他蜂类也很重要。

The honeybee is a crowd favorite for a good reason， but Kearney and Majorelle said local bees are just as important. “Honeybees are not as endangered as our wild bees，” Majorelle said. “They dont make honey， but are responsible for a large impact on our agricultural15 crops.”

蜜蜂是人们最喜欢的蜂，这是有理由的，但是卡尼和马约雷尔说当地的蜂类同样重要。 “蜜蜂不像野生蜂类那样濒危。”马约雷尔说，“野生蜂类不生产蜂蜜，但对我们的农业作物有着巨大影响。”

How can people help？

人们该如何帮助蜜蜂？

Its simpler than you think to help honeybees. Anyone can transform whatever green space they have into natural habitat. “There are tons of beautiful wildflowers that are well adapted to the urban environment that people can put in their gardens， roofs， planters， and in mini meadows16，” Majorelle said.

帮助蜜蜂比你想象的要简单。任何人都可以把他们拥有的任何绿色空间改造成蜜蜂的自然栖息地。“有很多美丽的野花能够很好地适应城市环境，人们可以把它们种在花园里、屋顶上、花盆里和小草坪上。”马约雷尔说。

Kearney agrees and says not everyone needs to become a beekeeper to save the honeybees. Anyone can help bees by planting flowers for them. Youll need to plant a lot of flowers at different bloom times， too， as 1 pound of honey is created from 2 million flowers， she added.

卡尼同意说，不是每个人都要成为养蜂人才能来拯救蜜蜂。任何人都可以通过种花来帮助蜜蜂。她补充说：“你也要种很多在不同的时间开花的花，因为1磅蜂蜜需要蜜蜂采集200万朵花才能制成。”

【Notes】

1. pollinate [     ] vt. 对……授粉 2. berry [     ] n. 浆果（葡萄，番茄等）

3. colony [     ] n. 种群 4. hive [     ] n. 蜂巢，蜂箱;蜂群

5. reproductive [     ] adj. 生殖的

6. forage [     ] vi. 觅食;搜寻 7. pollen [     ] n. 花粉

8. nectar [     ] n. [植] 花蜜 9. pesticide [     ] n. 杀虫剂

10. navigation [     ] n. 航行;航海 11. habitat [     ] n. 栖息地，产地

12. invasive [     ] adj. 侵入的，侵袭的

13. sprawl [     ] n. （城市）杂乱无序拓展的地区;随意扩展

14. drought [     ] n. 干旱;缺乏

15. agricultural [     ] adj. 农业的;农艺的

16. meadow [     ] n. 草地;牧场