People and Bees: A Natural Partnership

In current events, a half-million honey bees were killed in a vandalism spree that occurred at a beekeeper's enterprise in Sioux City, Iowa.  This incredible number might amount to around 14 bee hives at certain times of the year; but, because we're in winter, the damage could be more horrifying.

The winter bee hive naturally drops in population by about 30,000 bees each year, which  means that vandals in this case may have been responsible for the killings of what would be equal to approximately 100 productive bee hives. Shamefully, this amount of damage reflects only one aspect of the immediate violation and cumulative effect of the loss.

Short Primer on Bees

Bees are a productive, regenerative, necessity of our food chain on Earth-- when people aren't in their way. Bees "pollinate 80 percent of our flowering crops, which constitute one-third of everything we eat".

Bees' lives are short, relatively. Worker bees get about 40 days, during warm high-productivity summer months, to do their jobs, whereas a queen bee has a comparatively-long lifespan of 3-5 years. There is one  queen per hive.

Born sporadically in their hives, each bee has a first duty of cleaning their "cell". As the young bees age, their responsibilities change several times.

The Beekeeper

Beekeepers, aka apiarists, are a type of farmer. They provide edible and usable products (honey, beeswax) to communities through the work of their bees, either as a primary beekeeping commerce or as secondary commerce to another primary product or service goal of beekeeping.

Some beekeepers run a service of hive provision, to clientele in need of seasonal pollination of their crops and farms. This latter exercise has become necessary in the production of food crops that must feed an exponentially increasing number of people, as well as in the maintenance of floral industry crops.

Photo by Michael Gäbler

People and Bees

Some of us may see only a few bees throughout our entire lives, while others may be lucky enough to have a natural hive nearby. Bees may be frequently seen buzzing around wildflowers and gardens during temperate months, their fruitful existence possibly unrealized by them.

Bees can be pests, under either livable or problematic circumstances. Another service of professional beekeeping is to remove hives ethically . . . keeping bees safe and healthy during transit to new locations where they may be left to survive in nature's way, or supported and productive via farming.

Photo by Bob Peterson via Flickr

The relationship between humans and bees has long been one of great service to people, yet over time has become strained for bees. It's well worth our time (as a determining factor of outcome) to share our awareness of this industrious, pollinating creature-- a species that must be in production constantly to keep itself alive, then produces so much more for our benefit.

REF:

"File:Honey Bee on Willow Catkin (5419305106).jpg." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 18 Dec 2017, 17:28 UTC. 30 Dec 2017, 21:43 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Honey_Bee_on_Willow_Catkin_(5419305106).jpg&oldid=272863936>. 

FURTHER READING:

Beekeeping New Year Resolutions via HoneybeeSuite
Top 60 Beekeeping Blogs via Feedspot
Learn about colony collapse and pollination crisis via PLOS