A
To many people, honey bees symbolize development, sustainability (可持续性) and environmentalism. But as a honey bee researcher, I have to tell you that only the first item on that list is reasonable. Although they are important for agriculture, honey bees also damage natural ecosystems by competing with native bees — some of which are species at risk.
The rise in honey beekeeping, now a popular activity for hundreds of thousands of Americans, followed strong awareness campaigns to “save the bees.” But as a species, honey bees are least in need of saving. Media attention unfairly covers them over native bees, and vague messaging has led many citizens — myself once included — to believe they are doing a good thing for the environment by putting on a beekeeper’s veil. Unfortunately, they are probably doing more harm than good.
“Beekeeping is for people; it’s not a conservation practice,” says Sheila Colla, an assistant professor and conservation biologist at Toronto’s York University, Canada. “People mistakenly think keeping honey bees, or helping honey bees, is somehow helping the native bees, which are at risk of extinction.” She is frustrated the ones in more neon on saving honey bees when, from a conservationist’s point of view, native bees are the ones in more need of support.
For some reason, maybe because they are small, honey bees are not generally viewed as the massively distributed livestock animal that they are. There are millions of honey bee colonies in North America, 2.8 million of which are in the U.S. Approximating around 30,000 bees per colony (the size of a pollination unit), that’s roughly a billion honey bees in Canada and the U.S. alone — almost triple the number of people. High densities of honey bee colonies increase competition between native bees, putting even more pressure on the wild species that are already in decline.
I used to believe that honey bees were a gateway species, and that concern over their health and development would spill over onto native bees, benefitting them, too. While this may have happened in some cases, evidence is increasing that misguided enthusiasm for honey bees has likely been to the native bees’ damage. Beekeeping doesn’t make me feel good, anymore. In fact, quite the opposite.
1．What makes bee keeping gain great popularity among Americans?
A．Several campaigns have been launched to advocate bee saving.
B．Citizens believe native bees are no longer in need of protection.
C．Little importance are attached to protecting the environment.
D．Citizens hope to make a fortune from the bee keeping business.
2．What is the Colla’s possible attitude towards the beekeeping?
A．Objective. B．Unfavorable. C．Supportive. D．Neutral.
3．What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A．The author’s attitude towards the beekeeping has changed.
B．People’s enthusiasm for keeping honey bees is increasing.
C．In some cases evidence has proved honey bees are in danger.
D．Keeping native bees is of great benefit to people’s health.
