英语短文

The Disappearance of Bees

Honey bees and bumble bees are disappearing all over the world and no-one

really knows why.If you don’t like being stung or you don’t like honey,you will be

pleased ,but bees do more than just make honey .They are an important link

between humans and plants and a vital part of the human food chain .Bees

pollinate hundreds of different crops,which means that they transfer the pollen

from one plant to another so that people and animals eat.Other insects,people and

even the wind,also play a part in pollination ,but most of this is carried out by

bees.

Many people attribute the following saying to Albert Einstein when they talk

about the disappearance of bees.If the bee disappeared off the surface of the

globe ,then man would only have four years of life left.No more bees,no more

pollination, no more plants ,no more man .There is no evidence that Einstein

actually said those words ,but there is certainly a great deal of concern about

this issue around the world.

Beekeepers have been worried about this problem fo about 20 years ,but in

the last 10 years it has become more serious.In some places ,wild bees have

disappeared completely.No one really knows what has caused the

problem ,and ,although there are many ideas about how to fix it ,no clear solution

has been found . Researchers think there could be many reasons for the deaths

of the bees ,including diseases in the hives, or other tiny insects attacking the

bees .The problems could also come from the outside environment,from plants

that have been covered in chemicals ,or even from global warming.

In the meantime ,various governments are trying to find their own

solutions.The USA started importing bees from Australia to increase bee

numbers .Fruit trees in some parts of China are now pollinated by people

because there are no bees left to do the job.

Beekeepers are also working on the problem.Some are keeping their bees

colonies alive by using chemicals to control bee diseases ,but this weakens the

bees and causes more diseases.Maybe the best solution is to find ways to stop the

bees getting sick in the first place.Some researchers think that an effective way

to do this is to encourage the bees themselves to become more hygienic.Some

species of bees clean their hives and throw out dead bees and old honey .If

bee-keepers choose these species,this may be one solution to controlling diseases

without using chemicals.

One thing is for sure :people need bees and we need to use our human

ingenuity to find ways to make our bees healthy again.Who would have thought

that the humble bee was so important to our lives on the planet?