Why are bees in danger?蜜蜂为何越来越少？

Skye Oduaran

蜜蜂起着平衡生态的重要作用。没有蜜蜂，植物的受粉就会受到影响。蜜蜂一旦灭绝，那将影响整个与之有关的植物共生生态系统。

Growing up on a farm in OrchardHill， Georgia， Jim Quick learned how im⁃portant bees are to the food we eat. Whenhe was 11， his grandfather asked himto start a beehive to keep the crops flour⁃ishing （茁壮成长）.

“Forty⁃two years later， and I'm stilllearning，”Quick said in a recent interview.Before his retirement， the master beekeepertaught entomology （the study of insects） atthe University of Georgia in Athens.

Quick is still learning about bees onthe farm where he grew up. But he is con⁃cerned： The bee population is in danger.Nearly 40% of beehives in the UnitedStates were lost in 2021 alone. This con?cerns Quick and other scientists becausebees are responsible for much of the foodwe eat. They pollinate （给……传授花粉）flowering plants and crops， resulting in theproduction of seeds and fruits.

The declining bee population can be caused by several factors， including para⁃sites （寄生物） that kill or weaken the hives.“ Back when I started， it wasn't hard atall，”Quick said.“A lot of the problems—pests and diseases—came about over thepast 30 years. Habitat loss， pesticides， andclimate change are also to blame. Pesti⁃cides get into the nectar （花蜜） of plants，which is essential to a bee's diet. Toxins（毒素） in the nectar harm the bees' me⁃mory.”

Scientists are searching for solutionsto help the bee population. But Quick al⁃ready has an idea.“Set up a hive at schooland learn more about pollinators，”he said.Kids arent too young to help. After all，Quick started his first beehive at the age of11.“We could grow more bees， if we hadmore people to do it，”he said.

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