S-09. Bee Mystery

Voice 1

Hello. I'm Ruby Jones.

Voice 2

And I'm Rachel Hobson. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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It is a warm sunny day. The honeybees are hard at work. These small black and yellow insects fly from flower to flower. They collect the sweet liquid 'nectar' from each flower. They use this nectar to make their food - honey. Every year millions and millions of bees around the world work in this way. But there is a problem.

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Large numbers of honeybees are dying. No one knows the reason. Honeybees in the United States are the worst affected. But honeybees are starting to die in Europe too. And beekeepers in other countries are worried. In today's Spotlight we look at the mystery of the dying honeybees. What are the possible causes? Are there any answers? But first we tell about normal honeybees.

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Honeybees take nectar from many different flowers to make honey. But this does not harm the flowers. Instead, it helps the flowers. As the bees work, flower dust or pollen sticks to the bees. The pollen is from the male part of a flower. Then the bees fly to different flowers. And the pollen spreads to the female part of these flowers. This process is called pollination. Through pollination flowering plants are able to make seeds.

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So honeybees help to make much of the world's fruits and vegetables. There are other insect pollinators - different bees, wasps, and butterflies. But honeybees are safe for people to work with. So people have come to depend almost completely on them. This is especially true in the United States. There honeybees pollinate one third of all food that farmers grow.

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Some US beekeepers keep bees just for their honey. But other beekeepers keep bees to pollinate farmers' crops. These beekeepers usually live in warm parts of the United States. There it is easier for their bees to survive the winter. Then, in the spring and summer the beekeepers take bees to farmers across the country.

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A bee does not work alone. Bees form large groups, or colonies. And they live together in hives. Bees have different jobs within the hives. Each colony has a queen bee. She produces eggs - up to one thousand five hundred eggs every day. The colonies also have drone bees. Their job is to mate with a queen. But it is the worker bees that make sure the colony survives. They collect food and build the hive. In the summer, a beehive can house more than sixty thousand bees.

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Everyday most worker bees fly away from the hive to find food. A few young adult bees stay in the hive with the queen. The workers fly for many kilometres looking for food. After they collect enough pollen they return to the hive.

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In late 2006, beekeepers saw that something was wrong. Worker bees would fly off to work. But they would not come back. This was not the way of the bees! Scientists say these bees were dying in the fields. They are calling this condition 'colony collapse disorder'. The whole hive will die when the workers do not return.

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Scientists did some research. They looked at the dying hives. And they examined the queen bees and the young adult bees. They found these remaining bees were in very bad health. Some of these bees had as many as six bee viruses. They also had several other sicknesses. For this reason many scientists believe the bees have a weak immune system. Their bodies just cannot fight sicknesses anymore.

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Beekeepers are losing between seventy and ninety percent of their bees. Larry Curtis is a beekeeper in Pennsylvania. He used to have a thousand bee colonies. Now he has fewer than eight. He is hoping that experts can find the answer soon.

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Some experts believe that the problem is genetically modified crops. Scientists changed the genes in these crops. Many countries grow genetically modified food. This food is supposed to resist insects better. But many people are concerned about genetically modified food. Scientists at the University of Jena, Germany, are researching the issue. They are particularly concerned about a gene called Bt. Experiments showed that the gene caused diseases in some bees. The gene did not affect healthy bees. However it did affect bees with particular sicknesses.

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Other experts believe the problem is the diet of the bees. Some beekeepers feed their bees corn syrup. This is a sweet liquid made from corn. These beekeepers hope that the corn syrup will help more bees survive winter. Bees can use the syrup to make food when they cannot find enough pollen. However, corn syrup is not good for bees. It is not their natural food.

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In the summer bees usually collect many different kinds of flower pollen. They can do this when wild fields are near them. But some beekeepers put them in fields with only one kind of flower or plant. They do this so bees will produce honey with a particular taste. So the bees' diet is limited.

Voice 2

Farmers are adding to this problem. Many of them are farming too much of their land. Experts say that they should keep some wild fields. They suggest leaving some of their land to rest for a year. A study on canola farmers in Canada showed how this can help. The farmers who left thirty percent of their fields to rest increased their harvest. Doctor Lora Morandin has studied bees for years. She was involved in this study. She said:

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"If we farm all the land, we lose services such as pollination. Healthy farming systems need to include natural land."

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Now, there is a new theory about the bee mystery. Some experts believe the bees are getting a virus from Nosema Cerana - a fungus or plant-like organism. Fungi feed off other creatures. This fungus may have come to the United States from Asia. If this is truly the problem there is hope. Scientists have a cure for a similar fungus. And they believe they can control this one too. But the truth is that no one really knows for sure.

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These are only some of the theories about why the bees are dying. However, most scientists agree about one thing. They think that this bee disorder has a number of causes combined. Bee colonies are experiencing worse and worse dangers. And scientists are working continuously to find answers to help them. They know how important honeybees are to pollination. Most people may not think much about the small buzzing honeybees flying around us. But if they disappear so will much of the food we depend on.

Voice 1

The writer and producer of today's programme was Rachel Hobson. All quotes were adapted for radio in this programme. The voices you heard were from South Africa and the United Kingdom. Computer users can hear our programmes on our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called 'Bee Mystery'.

Voice 2

Thank you for joining us today. Until next time, goodbye.