Without bees, there would not be enough food for the present and growing needs of humanity. In nature, pollination services are provided by various types of insects and animals, but it is the bee that best contributes to it being done on a large scale.

Crops such as apples, pears, oranges, melons, watermelons, coffee, nuts, avocados, blueberries, cranberries, cucumber, cotton, soybeans, peaches, squash, vegetable and forage seeds, and numerous others, directly depend on bee pollination in order to produce. This is the reason that bees have such a strong impact on agricultural productivity.

The bees offer more than just honey, pollen, propolis, beeswax, royal jelly and venom; they are living creatures that are vital for our planet.

Bees are responsible for pollination of 70% of agricultural crops, increasing and guaranteeing the productivity and quality of fruits and vegetables. Bees also are essential for the development and maintenance of natural vegetation. Bee pollination is necessary for seed production and the resultant renewal of the plant components of forests and other land ecosystems. These plant communities produce the oxygen necessary for life on earth, as well as providing many other vital ecosystem services.

The first reports of disappearing bees on a large scale in the USA were made in 1995;
this was the presage of a phenomenon that currently is a major challenge for beekeeping on a worldwide scale.

Scientific studies have demonstrated that this disappearance is symptomatic and epidemic, caused by a disturbance that came to be denominated CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) or Disappearing Bees. The phenomenon was first discussed publicly at the World Beekeeping Congress, Apimondia 2007, in Australia. Current numbers (on colony losses) are alarming and indicate a worsening trend. In the USA, a large percentage of bee colonies are lost annually. Similar situations have been reported in Europe, South America and other continents. In Brazil, this syndrome has appeared in various states, including Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

CCD is the name given to a phenomenon in which a colony of honey bees is reduced, in a few days or weeks, to very few bees, frequently leading to complete decline. The bees simply disappear without a trace, leaving behind brood, honey, pollen, and in some cases, even their queen.

It has been shown that agents involved in CCD affect the nervous system of the bees, impacting directly on their memory and sense of direction. Consequently, when foraging bees visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen in the field, they no longer are able to return to their hives. They are lost in the field and die.

Diseases, pests, fungi, mites, viruses, climatic changes, management practices, nutritional deficits, agricultural pesticides, especially the neonicotinoid insecticides, are among the possible causes of CCD, the relative importance of each of which are still the subject of heated discussion by scientists. These hypotheses urgently need to be investigated, diagnosed and resolved, so that the bees can be protected.

The United States Department of Agriculture reported in May 2013 that nearly a third of US honey bee colonies had died during the winter of 2012/2013, and that in the last six years, the number of bee colonies in the country had been reduced more than 30%. Studies point to increased use of agricultural chemicals, especially neonicotinoid pesticides, as one of the main hypotheses for explaining the CCD phenomenon.

In April 2013, the European community, in a clear demonstration of their concern for their detrimental effects on pollinators, suspended the use of various neonicotinoid pesticides, which were shown to highly toxic for bees.
Source: g1.com.br

Bees have existed on earth more than 50 million years. They are unique and unsubstitutable organisms in the environment, essential for maintaining the equilibrium of our ecosystem. Their loss will have grave consequences. Einstein considered this point and expressed his thoughts in a way that now seems wise and pertinent:

“If bees disappear from the face of the Earth, humanity will have only four more years of existence. Without bees, there is no pollination, and no reproduction by plants. Without plants, there will be no animals, including man”. Albert Einstein – 1879/1955.
THAT IS THE QUESTION!