Article Title: U.S.

Puts Bumblebee On The Endangered Species List For

The 1st Time.

Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2017/01/11/509337678/u-s-puts-first-bumblebee-on-
the-endangered-species-list

Quotes: It also means that states with habitats for this species are eligible for
**(3-5 Depending on federal funds.
article length)**
NRDC Senior Attorney Rebecca Riley said in a statement from the
Xerces Society, which advocates for invertebrates. "Bumble bees are
dying off, vanishing from our farms, gardens, and parks, where they
were once found in great numbers."
It has seen an 88 percent decline in the number of populations and an
87 percent loss in the amount of territory it inhabits.
Pollinator decline is a global trend. A recent major global assessment
sponsored by the U.N. suggested that about 40 percent of invertebrate
pollinator species are facing extinction.

Summary: The rusty patched bumblebee is now on the U.S. endangered

**(1-2 paragraphs species list for the very first time. This is concerning because it
depending on article
length)**
is not the only case in a decrease of pollinating invertebrates. It
is affecting the world on a global scale and it is
important because 75% of our crops rely on bees. Fortunately,
because they are on the endangered species list, they are
available for federal funding.

Wondering: What other pollinating invertebrates are dying? What would the
world look like without bees?

Article Title: The Causes

Link: http://sos-bees.org/causes/

Quotes: Pollinators cannot escape the various and

**(3-5 Depending on
article length)**
massive impacts of industrial agriculture

The main reasons for global bees-decline are industrial

agriculture, parasites/pathogens and climate change.The
loss of biodiversity, destruction of habitat and lack of
forage due to monocultures and bee-killing pesticides are
particular threats for honeybees and wild pollinators

Summary: The agricultural industry is using pesticides that are killing

**(1-2 paragraphs
depending on article
bees and other plant pollinators. This is negatively
length)** affecting the population of both bees and plants that are
able to thrive due to pollination. This can be solved by
switching to less lethal chemicals to spray crops with.

Wondering: I wonder if theres a way for the agricultural industry to

make a compromise with the environmentalists and
create a pesticide that is safe for bees.

Article Title: Saves Bees - pollinator decline & how to help

Link: https://savebees.org/

Quotes: 1. Pesticides are weakening pollinator immune systems,

**(3-5 Depending on
article length)**
leaving them more open to diseases and parasites.
2. Habitat loss, acute and chronic pesticide poisoning,
diseases and parasites, increasing intensification of
conventional farming, and even the impacts of climate
change are all taking their toll on bee health.
3. Plant native wildflowers and flowering shrubs in your
backyards, communities, and workplaces.

Summary: Pesticides, habitat loss, climate change, and disease have

**(1-2 paragraphs
depending on article
all led to a rapid decline in both domestic and wild bee
length)** populations.

You can help to protect bees by planting bee friendly

plants, providing homes for bees by buying bee boxes,
boycotting GMOs, and supporting your local organic
farmers.

Wondering: I see a lot of articles saying that planting bee friendly

plants will help to save the bees, Im wondering if theres
a more sustainable solution that people can take part in.

Article Title: Save the Bees + Honey Bee Health

Link: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-
 agriculture/save-the-bees/
http://www.monsanto.com/improvingagriculture/pages/ho
ney-bee-health.aspx

Quotes: In the last four years, the chemical industry has spent
**(3-5 Depending on
article length)**
$11.2 million on a PR initiative to say its not their fault,
so we know whose fault it is. -Green Peace

Summary: According to GreenPeace the chemical/pesticide industry

**(1-2 paragraphs
depending on article
spent $11.2 million dollars on an ad campaign to prove
length)** that they are not killing the bees.

This article posted by monsanto (one of the worlds

largest producers of pesticides and GMOs,) tries to prove
that they are in fact trying to protect them.

Wondering: I wonder if this is a part of the $11.2 campaign they are

talking about?
Would Monsanto or a similar pesticide distributor be a
good opposer to interview?

Article Title: The Startling Effect of Shrinking Bee Populations

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/humans-bees-
china_us_570404b3e4b083f5c6092ba9

Quotes: Hanyuan county is known as the worlds pear capital. But

**(3-5 Depending on pesticide use has led to a drastic reduction in the areas bee
article length)**
population, threatening the fruit crop. Workers now pollinate
fruit trees artificially, carefully transferring pollen from male
flowers to female flowers to fertilize them.

Heavy pesticide use on fruit trees in the area caused a severe

decline in wild bee populations, and trees are now pollinated by
hand in order to produce better fruit.

Summary: Heavy pesticide use along with air pollution in China has
**(1-2 paragraphs caused the bee population to decrease to the point that pear
depending on article
length)**
farms have begun hiring humans to hand pollinate their farms.

Hand pollinators have to use feathered brushes or cotton balls

to transfer pollen to each individual bloom on a farm.

Hand pollination began because it was a cheaper alternative to

 farmers renting bee colonies, but in recent years as the bee
population has declined, hand pollination has become
somewhat of a necessity.

Wondering: How far into the future will we see exclusively human
pollinated plants.

Article Title: Queen Bees Control The Sex of Young After All

Link: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2007/11/queen-bees-
control-sex-young-after-all

Quotes: Every young queen goes on a mating flight and then stores the
**(3-5 Depending on sperm she collects from multiple matings for the rest of her life,
article length)**
using it up bit by bit as she lays eggs.
Males, called drones, emerge from unfertilized eggs, and females
emerge from fertilized ones and become the workers.
A queen will lay an unfertilized egg in a particular cell only if the
cell is big enough to accommodate a male larva, which is bigger
than a female one.
Despite these constraints, the queen can still tip the gender
balance of the hive, report Katie Wharton and a team of
entomologists at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
"The workers and the queen clearly share control of honey bee
demographics," Wharton says. "It was like discovering a checks-
and-balances government inside the hive."

Summary: A common misconception among people is that the male

**(1-2 paragraphs
depending on article
bee controls the sex of bee that the queen bee produces
length)** when in actuality it is based mostly on the queens
decision. She stores the sperm from the male bee inside
her and uses it to pick whether the bee produced is a
male (drone) or a female (worker). It can also be decided
by the size of the cells that the queen is laying her eggs
into. It is a combination of both efforts of bee genders
that decide the sexes of the hive.

Wondering: If we manipulate the hormones of the queen bee, can we

trick her into producing more queen bees and therefore
increase the bee population?

Article Title: Global Honey Bee Disorders and Other Threats to Insect
Pollinators
Link: https://wedocs.unep.org/rest/bitstreams/14378/retrieve

Quotes: There is a worldwide pollinator related crop production

**(3-5 Depending on
article length)**
crisis

Economic assessments of agricultural

productivity should include the costs of sustaining wild
and managed pollinator
populations.

Summary: Both wild and domesticated pollinators are facing

**(1-2 paragraphs
depending on article
population decline and potential extinction. Because of
length)** this, the UNEP is suggesting that the agricultural industry
should be held responsible for protecting and sustaining
pollinator populations.

Wondering: Should the private sector really be held responsible for

environmental issues? If so who would enforce this?

Article Title: EPA Finally Admits What Has Been Killing Bees For
Decades

Link: http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/epa-finally-admits-
what-has-been-killing-bees-for-decades/

Quotes:
**(3-5 Depending on
article length)**

Summary:
**(1-2 paragraphs
depending on article
length)**

Wondering:

1) Federal Funding for endangered Species

2) What is currently being done to help but also what countries
might have improved and what are they doing
3) Optional - Are there any species that might substitute bee
behavior?
4) Optional - Attacking Businesses
Grant Proposal:Beekeeping Project Grants For Raising Honey Bees
http://www.thebeeinfo.com/grant-proposal-beekeeping-project-grants-for-
raising-honey-bees/
To tackle this situation, different types of grants money provided for beekeepers. Such
as, Federal Grants, State Grants, or Corporate Grants, Beekeeping project grants and
so on.
Some non-profit and private organizations like Churches, Foundations, Clubs and
Professional Association provide grants money for beekeepers.
Under SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education) Programs, the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers grants to farmers, producers, & students.
Many states provide grant money to beekeepers or distribute federal grants assigned
to them.
Haagen-Dazs, Burts Bees and many other similar companies donated thousands of
dollars to scientific research on beekeeping and safeguarding of honeybees.
If you are interested to get grant money for honey bees you have to know the rules and
regulation for sanctioning grants in respect of state laws and Federal government laws.
Find any beekeeper or beekeeping association near to you for information regarding
this.

Different grants may be awarded to different groups or organizations in an effort to help

save the bees and provide further research on this mysterious collapse of the bee
population. The grants come from the federal government, the state, or from
corporations such as haagen-dazs and burts bees. These grants have some
prerequisites and conditions to their usage but they are accessible for students.
Plan Bee: As Honeybees Die Out, Will Other Species Take Their Place?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/other-bee-species-subbing-for-honeybees/

But researchers report that another bee known as the blue orchard, or Osmia
lignaria, holds out promise of filling in the void.
James Cane, an entomologist at the Logan bee lab, has been working for 10
years to increase the availability of these bees and he says there are now a
million blue orchards pollinating crops in California.
The reason these bees are considered the best potential honeybee stand-ins,
Cane says, is that unlike some specialist native species, blue orchard bees, like
honeybees, can pollinate a variety of cropsincluding almonds, peaches,
plums, cherries, apples and others.
The blue orchard bees also do not produce honey, rarely sting and, owing to
their solitary nature, do not swarm. They are incredibly efficient pollinators of
many tree fruit cropson a typical acre, 2,000 blue orchard bees can do the
work of more than 100,000 honeybees.

The honeybee hope is beginning to diminish and our attention is now turning to its cousin - the
blue orchard bee. Although it doesnt produce honey, they are incredibly efficient and is already
being used to pollinate crops in California. Although this seems like a great investment, they
only multiply 3-8 times a year whereas a colony of bees will produce 20,000 in a few months.
Although we may be able to save our crops, we will not be able to have honey anymore (sad
face).

What is currently being done to help but also what countries might have
improved and what are they doing?

the world is finally trying to save the bees

Currently

major problems bees are facing:

1. Pesticides - A pesticide that is really good at killing a pest insect is usually

really good at killing off a beneficial insect like honeybees. But he also stresses that
drawing the link between cause and effect is extremely difficult. - Bees are crucial
to the global food supply. Of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of the food in
146 countries, 71% are bee-pollinated, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
 estimated in 2005. In the US alone, bees and other pollinators are responsible for
$15 billion of crops each year. By some estimates, one of every three bites you take
comes courtesy of these buzzing pollinators.
2. Habitat Loss - As monocultural agriculture gets ever more popular and
urbanization simplifies landscapes, bees lose much of the area where they would
have foraged for food or nested. - even if you are a beekeeper and you have had
hives for years if you move the bees (the hive) they are most like not going to stay
there, because when they go out to pollinate they forget where the hive was because
that's what they are used too
3. Pests & Parasites - For honeybees, varroa mites are public enemy number
one, says Delaplane. These mites not only hurt the bees themselves but introduce a
wide range of pathogens and other problems when they get into a bee colony.

Action:
What is being done to help

1. Pro-bee policies have met with mixed reviews from experts, who generally
see it as a good, but small, step forward. Making more federal land bee-friendly
some 7 million acres worth, according to the Obama administration plandoes little
to offset the loss of roughly 150 million acres of habitat over the last 30-odd years,
experts say.
2. Restricting Pesticides
3. Planting flowers
4. Buying organic foods

Plight of bees

The European Union (EU) has announced that it will ban, for two years, the use of
neonicotinoids, the much-maligned pesticide group often fingered in honeybee declines.

countries that have banned pesticides

countries that have banned GMOs

Whats killing bees