Are commercial honeybees making wild bees sick? by berly McCoy what evidence from the text best supports the analysis that human actions are related to bumblebee decline?

1 answer

To provide an accurate analysis of the text "Are commercial honeybees making wild bees sick?" by Berly McCoy and to highlight evidence that supports the claim that human actions are related to bumblebee decline, one would typically look for specific details where McCoy discusses the impact of agricultural practices, pesticide use, habitat destruction, and the introduction of commercial honeybee populations.

In general, the following types of evidence would be relevant to your analysis:

  1. Use of Pesticides: If McCoy mentions that agricultural practices involving pesticides harm not just honeybees but also wild bee populations, this would be significant evidence of human actions affecting bumblebee health.

  2. Introduction of Honeybee Colonies: References to studies or surveys indicating that the introduction of commercial honeybee colonies into ecosystems where wild bees are present leads to competition for resources or the spread of diseases would support the idea that human management of bees negatively impacts wild species.

  3. Habitat Loss: Any mention of how urban development or agricultural expansion reduces the natural habitats of bumblebees would underscore the human role in their decline.

  4. Disease Transmission: If the text details instances where diseases spread from commercial honeybees to wild bumblebees due to proximity or the sharing of floral resources, this could provide direct evidence linking human practices to negative outcomes for wild bees.

To find specific examples, one would need to refer to the actual text to pull specific quotations or data. If you can access the text, look for these themes to construct a compelling argument about the relationship between human actions and the decline of bumblebees.