The claim that people may be saving the bees to death best supports the analysis that human actions are related to bumblebee decline. This statement implies that efforts to help bee populations, such as breeding more commercial honeybees and planting flowers, may inadvertently contribute to the spread of viruses to wild bumblebees, highlighting the unintended consequences of human intervention on bee health.
"Are Commercial Honeybees
Making Wild Bees Sick?"
by Berly McCoy
Everyone wants to save the bees. But as populations decline every year, we may be saving them to death.
Human efforts to breed more of these insects in artificial beehives and plant more flowers may seem the obvious way to stave off heavy losses.
New research shows the answer is not that clear cut, because viruses may be spilling over from commercial honeybee colonies into wild bee populations, according to a study from the University of Vermont published Wednesday in PLOS One. Like honeybees, which are invaluable for agriculture, wild bumblebees also play a significant role in crop pollination. Though people are more familiar with honeybee die-offs - such as with colony collapse disorder — wild bumblebees have been struggling too. A handful of bumblebee species have declined by up to 96 percent in the U.S., according to the National Agricultural Library's website.
The causes have been largely understudied, although pesticides, infectious disease and shrinking habitat due to climate change have been suspected, said Samantha Alger, an ecologist from the University of Vermont who led the new research. Filling in one piece of the puzzle, the study revealed wild bumblebees pick up more viruses the closer they forage to managed honeybee colonies. But if bumblebees don't venture into the commercial hives, how are they picking up viruses?
Flowers have been suspected as reservoirs for bee viruses, but no researcher had linked virus deposits on flowers to bumblebee infections in the wild until this study. And the results could have implications for how we lend our inter-species help. Use the article excerpt below to answer the question.
What evidence from the text best supports the analysis that human actions are related to bumblebee decline?
(1 point)
• the fact that people have tried to breed more bees
O the claim that people may be saving the bees to death
the question about how wild bees pick up viruses if they do not enter managed honeybee colonies
the study that shows viruses may be spilling over from commercial hives to wild bees
7 answers
Just answer the question
The claim that people may be saving the bees to death.
"Are Commercial Honeybees
Making Wild Bees Sick?"
by Berly McCoy
The team plucked wild bumblebees from 19 sites around northern Vermont.
Some sites were close to a commercial apiary - within 0.2 miles or a short city block - while others were farther away - at least 0.6 miles. If honeybees were present, the researchers collected them too.
The team then measured the number of viruses stuck to each bee. Just because an animal has a virus on its outside doesn't mean it has an infection. You may have touched your friend's influenza-soaked tissue, but washed your hands before the flu infected you. So the researchers also tested each bee for virus genetic material, which is only made once the virus infects a host. The team looked at two viruses - deformed wing virus and black queen cell virus - both of which infect honeybees and bumblebees. These infections can potentially cause significant colony damage in honeybees, but researchers don't know yet what they do to bumblebee colonies.
To figure out how honeybee viruses are jumping to bumblebees, the researchers collected flower samples. Back in the lab, they tested ground-up flowers for viruses and mapped how close the contaminated flowers were to apiaries. They suspected that bees shed virus pieces on flowers during foraging. Use the article excerpt below to answer the question.
The article claimed that actions humans take to help honeybees may harm wild bumblebees.
What best describes the type of evidence used in this section to support that claim?
(1 point)
• The author made specific claims based on a scientific study.
• The author gave a detailed description of how viruses live and spread.
• The author provided detailed findings from a scientific study.
The author described the type of study scientists used to assess the problem.
Making Wild Bees Sick?"
by Berly McCoy
The team plucked wild bumblebees from 19 sites around northern Vermont.
Some sites were close to a commercial apiary - within 0.2 miles or a short city block - while others were farther away - at least 0.6 miles. If honeybees were present, the researchers collected them too.
The team then measured the number of viruses stuck to each bee. Just because an animal has a virus on its outside doesn't mean it has an infection. You may have touched your friend's influenza-soaked tissue, but washed your hands before the flu infected you. So the researchers also tested each bee for virus genetic material, which is only made once the virus infects a host. The team looked at two viruses - deformed wing virus and black queen cell virus - both of which infect honeybees and bumblebees. These infections can potentially cause significant colony damage in honeybees, but researchers don't know yet what they do to bumblebee colonies.
To figure out how honeybee viruses are jumping to bumblebees, the researchers collected flower samples. Back in the lab, they tested ground-up flowers for viruses and mapped how close the contaminated flowers were to apiaries. They suspected that bees shed virus pieces on flowers during foraging. Use the article excerpt below to answer the question.
The article claimed that actions humans take to help honeybees may harm wild bumblebees.
What best describes the type of evidence used in this section to support that claim?
(1 point)
• The author made specific claims based on a scientific study.
• The author gave a detailed description of how viruses live and spread.
• The author provided detailed findings from a scientific study.
The author described the type of study scientists used to assess the problem.
The author provided detailed findings from a scientific study.
Are Commercial Honeybees
Making Wild Bees Sick?"
by Berly McCoy
Everyone wants to save the bees. But as populations decline every year, we may be saving them to death.
Human efforts to breed more of these insects in artificial beehives and plant more flowers may seem the obvious way to stave off heavy losses.
New research shows the answer is not that clear cut, because viruses may be spilling over from commercial honeybee colonies into wild bee populations, according to a study from the University of Vermont published Wednesday in PLOS One. Like honeybees, which are invaluable for agriculture, wild bumblebees also play a significant role in crop pollination. Though people are more familiar with honeybee die-offs - such as with colony collapse disorder — wild bumblebees have been struggling too. A handful of bumblebee species have declined by up to 96 percent in the U.S., according to the National Agricultural Library's website.
The causes have been largely understudied, although pesticides, infectious disease and shrinking habitat due to climate change have been suspected, said Samantha Alger, an ecologist from the University of Vermont who led the new research. Filling in one piece of the puzzle, the study revealed wild bumblebees pick up more viruses the closer they forage to managed honeybee colonies. But if bumblebees don't venture into the commercial hives, how are they picking up viruses?
Flowers have been suspected as reservoirs for bee viruses, but no researcher had linked virus deposits on flowers to bumblebee infections in the wild until this study. And the results could have implications for how we lend our inter-species help. Use the article excerpt below to answer the question. What evidence from the text best supports the inference that people have been more concerned with the health of honeybees than wild bumblebees in recent years? Select the two correct answers.
(1 point)
, The causes of bumblebee die-offs have been largely understudied.
• Bumblebee die-offs may be increasing because of efforts to
save honeybees.
• People are more familiar with honeybee die-offs.
New research shows that honeybee diseases may be spilling over to wild bumblebees.
, Some species of bumblebees have declined up to 96 percent locally.
Making Wild Bees Sick?"
by Berly McCoy
Everyone wants to save the bees. But as populations decline every year, we may be saving them to death.
Human efforts to breed more of these insects in artificial beehives and plant more flowers may seem the obvious way to stave off heavy losses.
New research shows the answer is not that clear cut, because viruses may be spilling over from commercial honeybee colonies into wild bee populations, according to a study from the University of Vermont published Wednesday in PLOS One. Like honeybees, which are invaluable for agriculture, wild bumblebees also play a significant role in crop pollination. Though people are more familiar with honeybee die-offs - such as with colony collapse disorder — wild bumblebees have been struggling too. A handful of bumblebee species have declined by up to 96 percent in the U.S., according to the National Agricultural Library's website.
The causes have been largely understudied, although pesticides, infectious disease and shrinking habitat due to climate change have been suspected, said Samantha Alger, an ecologist from the University of Vermont who led the new research. Filling in one piece of the puzzle, the study revealed wild bumblebees pick up more viruses the closer they forage to managed honeybee colonies. But if bumblebees don't venture into the commercial hives, how are they picking up viruses?
Flowers have been suspected as reservoirs for bee viruses, but no researcher had linked virus deposits on flowers to bumblebee infections in the wild until this study. And the results could have implications for how we lend our inter-species help. Use the article excerpt below to answer the question. What evidence from the text best supports the inference that people have been more concerned with the health of honeybees than wild bumblebees in recent years? Select the two correct answers.
(1 point)
, The causes of bumblebee die-offs have been largely understudied.
• Bumblebee die-offs may be increasing because of efforts to
save honeybees.
• People are more familiar with honeybee die-offs.
New research shows that honeybee diseases may be spilling over to wild bumblebees.
, Some species of bumblebees have declined up to 96 percent locally.
The two correct answers that best support the inference that people have been more concerned with the health of honeybees than wild bumblebees in recent years are:
- The causes of bumblebee die-offs have been largely understudied.
- People are more familiar with honeybee die-offs.