An inference that can be made from the excerpt is that future efforts to save both commercial and wild bee populations will need to focus on managing disease transmission between the two groups. The excerpt states, “the more that bees are transported and concentrated for larger-scale pollination events, the more opportunities for diseases to spread,” suggesting that simply increasing the number of bees and bee-friendly flowers may not be sufficient. Additionally, Scott McArt notes that “it’s likely the transmission is going both ways,” indicating that addressing the health of wild bees is critical to protecting managed populations as well. Therefore, future strategies must account for the interconnected health of both commercial and wild bees to be effective.
"Are Commercial Honeybees Making Wild Bees Sick?"
by Berly McCoy
If human-managed bees and bee-friendly flowers are acting as hotspots for pathogens, keeping more bees and planting more flowers may be contributing to the steep losses in commercial pollinators seen in the U.S. each year, as well as fueling the decline of wild bees. The more that bees are transported and concentrated for larger-scale pollination events, the more opportunities for diseases to spread.
And it’s not just a one-way street.
“It’s likely the transmission is going both ways,” said Scott McArt, a pollinator ecologist at Cornell University who was not involved in the study. Even if diseases in commercial bees are eliminated, new infections from the wild bee population, which are known to harbor pathogens, could spill back into managed populations, making disease eradication even tougher than it is now.
From the urban gardener to the rural farmer, people are encouraged to grow “bee-friendly” plants.
1 of 2
Question
Use the article excerpt to answer the question.
It is possible to infer from this excerpt something about future efforts to save the bees. What inference can you make? In 3–5 sentences, state your inference and provide strong and thorough textual evidence from the excerpt to support the inference.
1 answer