Question
Our Friend the Bee
Our Friend the Bee
The Importance of the Bee
The pollinators of our country, those insects who carry pollen from one blossom to the next, provide for our fall harvest. These pollinators include the bee. Many of the foods that we harvest would not grow during the spring and summer without them. Without them, we could find our country without any of the nutritious vegetables and fruits that we enjoy. We owe much to these small and busy friends.
Honey bees take in their food through the collection of pollen and nectar. These flower products provide the bee with natural protein to keep the bee healthy. The food also feeds the young back at the hive. The bee processes the pollen and nectar into essential amino acids, but it is the variety of pollen that maintains their health. As do humans, bees need different food sources to strengthen their system and feed their bodies. One source of pollen and nectar is not enough to keep a bee thriving. The bee, as well as the hive, need multiple blossoms to stay strong and support their essential role in our food chain.
One of the great jobs performed by honey bees is their communication with the other bees in the hive. They communicate the path to other bees. The bee returns to the hive to perform a “waggle dance,” which communicates the location of a nearby site of food. The other bees understand the dance by smelling the pollen on the bee’s body and learning about the distance to the source of food through the “dance moves” of the original bee. The others then leave the hive to follow the directions to the food source in order to gather pollen and nectar for the support of the colony.
Although bees can hurt humans if they sting, they are an essential part of our food chain. They allow plants to cross-pollinate for reproduction. Without this busy army of pollinators, most of what we eat would no longer be available. Bees feed themselves from our flowers, but in addition, they keep garden crops growing for our dinner tables.
The Alarming Collapse of Modern Bee Colonies
Scientists around the world have sent off flares of concern about our most important pollinators in the United States, our bees. Over the last decade, bee colonies have gone into collapse or decline. In some states, nearly 70% of the bee colonies have been lost since 2006. Without these essential members of the food chain, our purchases in the grocery store will be changed.
The bee population of America creates a prosperous crop each fall. If they fail to survive, our crops will decline. Several changes in American agriculture practices may be causing the death of the American bee. New chemicals have been introduced to fight a mite that causes disease in native bees. The mite causes illness in these pollinators. Unfortunately, these chemicals may actually be harming the bees instead of helping them. In addition, the traditional prairies of our country are being replanted for the support of foraging animals, such as cows. The flowers that have always supported our native bee population are being replaced by plants that do not offer the same nutritional value to bees. Finally, the climate change around the world may be causing this collapse. Scientists of our country are working to determine why there has been a substantial loss of our native bee population.
If America wishes to continue relying on the practices of these pollinators, we must work harder at researching the sudden collapse of the bee population. Our grocery prices and our meals rely on the strength of the bee population. We must support the scientific agencies that are working to support the growth of our native bee population. Our dinner depends on it.
Multiple Choice Question
What is the author’s argument in “The Alarming Collapse of Modern Bee Colonies”?
A.
Scientists are concerned about the environment.
B.
Bees are important to the economy of modern America.
C.
Mites have become a threat to the modern American bee.
D.
America must find a way to protect the American bee for the sake of our harvests.
Our Friend the Bee
The Importance of the Bee
The pollinators of our country, those insects who carry pollen from one blossom to the next, provide for our fall harvest. These pollinators include the bee. Many of the foods that we harvest would not grow during the spring and summer without them. Without them, we could find our country without any of the nutritious vegetables and fruits that we enjoy. We owe much to these small and busy friends.
Honey bees take in their food through the collection of pollen and nectar. These flower products provide the bee with natural protein to keep the bee healthy. The food also feeds the young back at the hive. The bee processes the pollen and nectar into essential amino acids, but it is the variety of pollen that maintains their health. As do humans, bees need different food sources to strengthen their system and feed their bodies. One source of pollen and nectar is not enough to keep a bee thriving. The bee, as well as the hive, need multiple blossoms to stay strong and support their essential role in our food chain.
One of the great jobs performed by honey bees is their communication with the other bees in the hive. They communicate the path to other bees. The bee returns to the hive to perform a “waggle dance,” which communicates the location of a nearby site of food. The other bees understand the dance by smelling the pollen on the bee’s body and learning about the distance to the source of food through the “dance moves” of the original bee. The others then leave the hive to follow the directions to the food source in order to gather pollen and nectar for the support of the colony.
Although bees can hurt humans if they sting, they are an essential part of our food chain. They allow plants to cross-pollinate for reproduction. Without this busy army of pollinators, most of what we eat would no longer be available. Bees feed themselves from our flowers, but in addition, they keep garden crops growing for our dinner tables.
The Alarming Collapse of Modern Bee Colonies
Scientists around the world have sent off flares of concern about our most important pollinators in the United States, our bees. Over the last decade, bee colonies have gone into collapse or decline. In some states, nearly 70% of the bee colonies have been lost since 2006. Without these essential members of the food chain, our purchases in the grocery store will be changed.
The bee population of America creates a prosperous crop each fall. If they fail to survive, our crops will decline. Several changes in American agriculture practices may be causing the death of the American bee. New chemicals have been introduced to fight a mite that causes disease in native bees. The mite causes illness in these pollinators. Unfortunately, these chemicals may actually be harming the bees instead of helping them. In addition, the traditional prairies of our country are being replanted for the support of foraging animals, such as cows. The flowers that have always supported our native bee population are being replaced by plants that do not offer the same nutritional value to bees. Finally, the climate change around the world may be causing this collapse. Scientists of our country are working to determine why there has been a substantial loss of our native bee population.
If America wishes to continue relying on the practices of these pollinators, we must work harder at researching the sudden collapse of the bee population. Our grocery prices and our meals rely on the strength of the bee population. We must support the scientific agencies that are working to support the growth of our native bee population. Our dinner depends on it.
Multiple Choice Question
What is the author’s argument in “The Alarming Collapse of Modern Bee Colonies”?
A.
Scientists are concerned about the environment.
B.
Bees are important to the economy of modern America.
C.
Mites have become a threat to the modern American bee.
D.
America must find a way to protect the American bee for the sake of our harvests.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is:
D. America must find a way to protect the American bee for the sake of our harvests.
This option best captures the author’s argument regarding the importance of bees to the food supply and the need to address their population decline to ensure the sustainability of agriculture in America.
D. America must find a way to protect the American bee for the sake of our harvests.
This option best captures the author’s argument regarding the importance of bees to the food supply and the need to address their population decline to ensure the sustainability of agriculture in America.