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

Isabelle Tavares 李金倍

Youd be surprised by how much we rely on honeybees！

你會驚訝我們居然如此依賴蜜蜂！

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.

蜜蜂對世界糧食供應極為重要。美國農作物產值的近200億美元來自蜜蜂。我們三分之一的食物是由蜜蜂授粉的。漿果、堅果、水果、蔬菜、蜂蜜和咖啡等食物如果沒有蜜蜂就無法生存。

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·卡尼說，蜂群由生活在一個蜂巢中的大約50000只蜜蜂組成，就像一個家庭一樣，有各自的分工。蜂后是蜂群中唯一有繁殖能力的蜜蜂，它維持著蜂群生死的平衡。每天，近一半的蜂群離開蜂巢覓食。當蜜蜂采集花粉和花蜜時，它們也是在給農作物授粉，然后他們會把食物帶回蜂巢。

Whats causing the decline of honeybee populations？

是什么導致了蜜蜂數(shù)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.

有很多因素導致了蜜蜂數(shù)量下降：殺蟲劑，棲息地喪失，氣候變化，缺少年輕的養(yǎng)蜂人等等。例如，當蜜蜂遇到殺蟲劑時，它會把有毒的花蜜帶到巢中進而影響到蜂群。這還只是它們會回到蜂巢的情況——蜜蜂也有可能再也回不來，因為毒素會影響它們的導航技能。卡尼說：“我認為人們并沒意識到自己在使用什么，也不明白會發(fā)生什么?！笨峤忉屨f，殺蟲劑增加了蜂后死亡的幾率。如果蜂后死了，蜂群也會滅亡。

但是，卡尼說，單是這一事件不足以讓它們倒下。卡尼解釋說：“加上更多的壓力，比如寒冬再加上殺蟲劑，才會擊倒它們?！?/p>

屋頂綠化專家瑪尼·馬約雷爾認為，導致蜜蜂數(shù)量下降的主要問題之一是自然棲息地的喪失。馬約雷爾說：“入侵物種、城市拓展，以及建筑混凝土正在奪去大量蜜蜂（及原生植物）的自然棲息地?！?/p>

還有我們最近經歷的那些奇怪的天氣模式?？嵴f，蜜蜂與天氣的關系十分密切，因此天氣變化會使它們更難以生存?；馂?、洪水、漫長的冬天和炎熱的夏天會直接影響蜜蜂需要授粉的花的數(shù)量。卡尼在加州當養(yǎng)蜂人的九年時間里，經歷了七年的干旱。她說這意味著蜜蜂沒有食物，養(yǎng)蜂人只好用糖水喂蜜蜂。

What would the world look like without honeybees？

沒有蜜蜂世界會是什么樣子？

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.”

專家說美味的水果和蔬菜會急劇減少。“我認為沒人知道答案，但食品的成本會上升，因為農民必須開始人工授粉?！笨嵴f，“蜜蜂不僅與食物息息相關，也與其他依靠昆蟲授粉的植物息息相關。如果我們失去蜜蜂，我們就會失去這些植物。”

Other bees are important， too.

其他蜂類也很重要。

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.”

蜜蜂是人們最喜歡的蜂，這是有理由的，但是卡尼和馬約雷爾說當?shù)氐姆漕愅瑯又匾?“蜜蜂不像野生蜂類那樣瀕危?！瘪R約雷爾說，“野生蜂類不生產蜂蜜，但對我們的農業(yè)作物有著巨大影響?！?/p>

How can people help？

人們該如何幫助蜜蜂？

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.

幫助蜜蜂比你想象的要簡單。任何人都可以把他們擁有的任何綠色空間改造成蜜蜂的自然棲息地?！坝泻芏嗝利惖囊盎軌蚝芎玫剡m應城市環(huán)境，人們可以把它們種在花園里、屋頂上、花盆里和小草坪上?！瘪R約雷爾說。

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.

卡尼同意說，不是每個人都要成為養(yǎng)蜂人才能來拯救蜜蜂。任何人都可以通過種花來幫助蜜蜂。她補充說：“你也要種很多在不同的時間開花的花，因為1磅蜂蜜需要蜜蜂采集200萬朵花才能制成。”

【Notes】

1. pollinate [?????] vt. 對……授粉 2. berry [?????] n. 漿果（葡萄，番茄等）

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

5. reproductive [?????] adj. 生殖的

6. forage [?????] vi. 覓食;搜尋 7. pollen [?????] n. 花粉

8. nectar [?????] n. [植] 花蜜 9. pesticide [?????] n. 殺蟲劑

10. navigation [?????] n. 航行;航海 11. habitat [?????] n. 棲息地，產地

12. invasive [?????] adj. 侵入的，侵襲的

13. sprawl [?????] n. （城市）雜亂無序拓展的地區(qū);隨意擴展

14. drought [?????] n. 干旱;缺乏

15. agricultural [?????] adj. 農業(yè)的;農藝的

16. meadow [?????] n. 草地;牧場