Why bees are important for the ecosystem — Regina’s student essay

Why Bees Are Important For The Ecosystem?

Bees are very important to our ecosystem. They are the most important pollinator for flowers, fruits, and vegetables. They make plants grow. There are other pollinators, birds, bats, and butterflies, but bees pollinate between 75% to 90% of all plants in the world. In the Unites States it’s about 80%. That’s $20 billion in crops each year in revenue. This equates to one out of every three bites of food we eat a bee pollinates it.

Pollinating means they visit flowers and drink the nectar. Bees then travel from plant to plant carrying pollen and nectar on their bodies and transfers it to the next plant. This is what makes plants reproduce and grow. Many of the fruits and nuts we eat must have a pollinator to reproduce, they can’t do it on their own. Just a few are peaches, apples, almonds, all berries, tea, and coffee. Can you imagine not having coffee every day?

Bees do more than just pollinate. Bees support healthy ecosystems. Imagine what would happen if there weren’t plants and trees? We would face soil erosion, more devastated mudslides, and fires due to dead growth. Plants add stability to soils and purify water. Plants clean the air through photosynthesis which reduces the pollution we all breath.

Bee pollinating on a flower blossom

They also support other wildlife through the growth of food and habitat. They pollinate half of the world’s oils, fibers, and raw materials. Bees are great ecosystem indicator meaning that we can study them to learn more about the condition of ecosystems, including the stress and health of the environment and changes in species diversity and abundance (Kevan 1999).

Unfortunately, pollinators populations are dwindling. It’s attributed to sever loss of feeding and nesting habitats due to human growth. The misuse of chemicals, climate changes, and disease. This all leads to loss of bees and all pollinators. The numbers are shrinking so fast in areas there isn’t a way measure it. Bees need our help. without bees, we would face a devastating loss of many of the foods and products we use every day. There are ways to help reduce the loss of the bees. Farms that are closer to a more natural habitat produce more crop yields because they attract more pollinators. Many farms including Morgan Freeman’s have turned a portion of their fields to green space. This adds a natural habitat for the bees to live and grow safely. Bees don’t seem to be phased by city life. Even homeowners and communities can help. Many cities and suburbs have community gardens and parks with flowers. They all attract pollinators.

Bees are small in size, but they play a big role in food, agriculture, ecosystems, and biodiversity. If we lose bees, life wouldn’t be the same. We would have a very barren, devastated planet. They need our help to save them. We need to eliminate the harmful pesticides. Create more butterfly gardens at trails, parks, and schools. Add plants that can host butterflies and moths. We can save the bees, we just have to try. Bees are an important part of every aspect of our lives.

Author: Regina VIllanella

Western Governors University

Student Scholarships

Every year Thrive Pest Control hosts an essay contest and the reward is a 1-year scholarship at a 4-year university in the United States. This blog post is one of those scholarships.