Individual Presentation on Bees' Contribution to Business and Nature

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INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION (AR)
[TOPIC: BEES MAKE A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO
BUSINESS AND NATURE]
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Bees are responsible for pollination that support agriculture and ecosystem..................................3
Bees provide important by-products that are important in various industries.................................4
Bees regulate the ecosystem and conserve biodiversity in forests..................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Reference list...................................................................................................................................6
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Introduction
The total number of honey bees in the world is more compared to other bee types and pollinating
insects. Therefore, bees are the most important pollinator of crops and food in the world. It has
been estimated that a third of the food consumed by people daily is dependent on pollination by
honey bees. On the other hand, bees serve as important pollinators in the natural ecosystem as
well. Moreover, food and biodiversity is one of the results of the fertilisation process facilitated
by bees. Therefore, the current study aims at understanding the importance of bees for nature as
well as business.
Bees are responsible for pollination that support agriculture and ecosystem
Bees are the keys to colourful and variety nutritious diet and hence vital for stable and healthy
supplies of food. Bees are highly adapted for pollination, a process that allows plants to breed,
grow as well as produce food. Pollination is done when pollen are transferred between flowering
plants. A majority of food yielding plants rely upon pollination by bees, signifying the
importance of bees in agricultural business. On the other hand, 80 percent of wildflowers
throughout the world are pollinated by bees, fostering a diverse ecosystem (Lozier and Zayed,
2017).
Apart from bees, other pollinators include bats, birds as well as other insects such as butterflies.
However, honey bees are the primary pollinators and are regarded as industrial pollinators. Bees
and flowering plants have co-evolved with each other for more than millions of years. Bees
require flower for food, while flower require bees for reproduction, making bees an excellent
pollinator for industrial production of crops. On the other hand, birds and small mammals
consume seeds, berries and fruits that are pollinated by bees, making then regulator of the
ecosystem.
Honey bees facilitate the production of over 90 crops in North America that are commercially
grown. Again, on a global scale, 87 out of the major 115 food crops produced rely on pollination
by bees. Moreover, it is estimated that the bees pollinate global crops worth $170 billion
annually (Highet et al., 2018). Again, bees improve the quality of crops as well. For instance,
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solitary and bumblebees feed on different parts of flowers and combinedly produce juicer, bigger
and better shaped fruits.
Bees provide important by-products that are important in various industries
In terms of business, bees serve numerous industries apart from the agriculture sector. The by-
products of bees include honey, nectar, pollen, jelly, wax, propolis, bee venom, bee bread and
more. These products are greatly marketable and can essential to various industries as raw
materials. The by-products include both consumables as well as non-consumables. Additionally,
people across the world practise beekeeping that serves as a valuable income source for the
keepers.
Bees provide numerous by-products apart from only honey, which are affordable across the
world. Again, a majority of by-products produced by bees are not available through alternative
sources. This makes bees important for different industry sectors. On the other hand, apart from
its direct by-products, bees support the agriculture and forest industry as well, through
pollination and food supply regulation (Ellis, 2018). Honey and wax are the commonly known
products by bees, where beeswax is largely used in cosmetic industries. Again, few wild species
of bees produce venom that is vital in medical industry.
Bees contribute to around $235 to $577 billion globally in terms of its by-products and
pollination. Again, beekeepers tend to culture different species of bees for obtaining different by-
products in larger quantity and quality. On the other hand, by-products such as honey are solely
used as direct consumables as well as in different commercial food production, ornaments,
medical dressings and more. Furthermore, species of bees such as the alfalfa leaf cutter that do
not contribute much to pollination are cultured for their other by products.
Bees regulate the ecosystem and conserve biodiversity in forests
In addition to the business value of bees as industrial pollinators of crops and food, bees
contribute to conservation of nature by regulating the food supply in forests and wild. Bees
fertilize seeds that lead to germination. Again, bees pollinate flowers that allow the plants to
breed and produce fruits that are eaten by birds and small mammals (Thomas, 2018). On the
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other hand, the fruit eaters and herbivores serve as prey to larger carnivores. Therefore, bees are
keys to a stable food chain. Moreover, cross-pollination leads to diversity in plant species as well
as improvement in yield quality of plants.
As per the law of the food chain, every species is directly or indirectly associated with the other.
Plants provide food to the herbivores, whereas, the herbivores serve prey to larger carnivores.
However, in absence of bees, plants would fail to fertilize the seeds that would result in decline
of plant species, and eventually every species associated with the food chain. Therefore, bees
play a great role in conserving the ecosystem and biodiversity in forests. Moreover, cross-
pollination by multiple bee species leads to diversity in plant species and their yield quality as
well.
In USA and Southern parts of Europe, there had been a decline in the number of bees in the past
due to habitat loss, use of pesticides and invasive parasites (Lozier and Zayed, 2017). This had
led to decrease in fruit yield and germination in forests, where the food chain was significantly
affected. On the other hand, loss of pollinators led to decline of few plants that served as food to
livestock.
Conclusion
Bees are important for both the nature as well as business. Bees provide marketable by-products
such as beeswax, honey, nectar, pollens, jelly, venom and more. Again, the by-products are
produced through pollination, which is another important aspect for the agricultural sector as
well as the ecosystem. Bees regulate the balance in food chain by ensuring the germination and
fertilization of seeds through pollination of flowers. On the other hand, the pollination is utilized
by the agriculture industry sector for production of large scale high yield crops. Therefore, it is
important to conserve bees in order to ensure environmental sustainability, biodiversity as well
as boost economy.
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Reference list
Ellis, R., 2018. Save the Bees? Agrochemical Corporations and the Debate Over Neonicotinoids
in Ontario. Capitalism Nature Socialism, pp.1-19.
Highet, F., Toteva, G., Downie, M., Peterson, M., Gray, A.J. and Reid, A., 2018. " The Bees'
needs": using molecular analysis of bee collected pollen to understand which plants play an
important role in honey bee forage.
Lozier, J.D. and Zayed, A., 2017. Bee conservation in the age of genomics. Conservation
Genetics, 18(3), pp.713-729.
Thomas, M., 2018. Pollinator Power: Supporting Bees Through Ecoregion Specific Planting
Guides.
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