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Bees

The passage discusses the decline of bee populations globally and in the UK. It notes that while the number of UK beekeepers has increased, the number of bees has decreased significantly. Scientists have identified multiple contributing factors, including parasites, viruses, and insecticides. A key finding is that a combination of the Nosema fungus and invertebrate iridescent viruses strongly indicates a collapsed hive. As bees are major pollinators, their loss would be devastating to food supply and the global economy.

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347 views3 pages

Bees

The passage discusses the decline of bee populations globally and in the UK. It notes that while the number of UK beekeepers has increased, the number of bees has decreased significantly. Scientists have identified multiple contributing factors, including parasites, viruses, and insecticides. A key finding is that a combination of the Nosema fungus and invertebrate iridescent viruses strongly indicates a collapsed hive. As bees are major pollinators, their loss would be devastating to food supply and the global economy.

Uploaded by

namun tsetseg
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Passage 2 - Beware of the Danger to Bees

A In the last 10 years, the number of beekeepers in the UK has increased


dramatically. According to the British Beekeeper Association (BBKA),
the rise comes amidst growing international concern for the health of the
global bee population. In 2007, the UK government proposed a budget
cut that would defund the National Bee Unit, a group within the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that supports
British beekeepers and is involved in the management of threats to bees.
B In response to this, the BBKA launched a campaign to save the
National Bee Unit, simultaneously drawing attention to the swiftly
declining bee population. In the end, the National Bee Unit succeeded in
keeping its funding, and the membership of the BBKA more than
doubled. There are now around 24,000 amateur beekeepers registered
with the association, and that number continues to rise.
C At the same time that there has been an increase in the number of
beekeepers in the UK, there has been a decline in the number of bees
worldwide. Over the last decade, beekeepers in North America, South
America, Europe and Asia have reported huge devastations to the bee
populations in their hives. In 2007, former MP Lord Rooker predicted
that the honeybee might be extinct in Britain within a decade.
D Perhaps most troubling is the fact that the cause of this rapid decline
has been hard to identify. Scientists point to the varroa mite as one
explanation. This virus-carrying parasite preys on bees and has been
threatening bee populations since the 1960s. Recently, researchers at
Harvard University have argued that insecticides may deserve more of the
blame. Neonicotinoids, a range of insecticides used by many farms, can
be deadly to bees; they exterminated the entire population of bees in one
Chinese province in the 1980s, and were an initial suspect in the
phenomenon known as 'colony collapse disorder.'
E Colony collapse disorder occurs when all the worker bees from a
beehive previously thought to be well-functioning and healthy suddenly
disappear. The phenomenon was first observed by scientists and
beekeepers in North America in 2006, in which some beekeepers lost up
to 90% of their hives. While pesticides were at first believed to have
caused the disappearance of the bees, further research has shown that a
combination of two infections - a virus and a fungus - are far deadlier for
bees than either would be on its own.
F In this study, one hundred percent of collapsed hives were found to
have traces of invertebrate iridescent viruses (IIV); however, since these
are often found in strong colonies, IIV alone cannot be responsible for
colony collapse. A variety of microbes that attack invertebrates were
found in most of the collapsed colonies, but most could be eliminated as
possible culprits, as they occurred in only a few collapsed hives.
G However, one fungus called Nosema, which consists of a single cell
and targets bees specifically, was found in most of the collapsed colonies
in the study. Scientists determined that Nosema is not likely to predict the
likelihood of collapse when found in an otherwise healthy hive, absent
any traces of IIV; conversely, the presence of both Nosema and IIV is a
strong indicator of the likelihood of collapse, given the high correlation of
the two in collapsed colonies in the study.
H Declining bee populations are troubling for a multitude of reasons.
Bees directly produce items that humans consume in large quantities,
such as beeswax and honey. It is the indirect production of bees,
however, that would cause the largest devastation. Virtually everything
humans eat depends on pollination, and bees are hugely important to the
pollination process. Although cross-pollination is achieved in some cases
by wind, insects account for a much larger proportion of plant
reproduction, and bees are arguably the most prolific agents of pollen
transport among insects.
I If bees go extinct, most fruits and vegetables would die off as well.
Animals, such as cows and pigs, who consume plants that reproduce with
the help of bees would also be affected. The survival of bees, therefore, is
tied to our consumption of beef, pork and dairy. The literal 'fruits of the
labour' of bees also often become vital ingredients in important
medicines. In short, if bee populations disappear, there will be an
immensely detrimental impact on the global economy and life as we
know it.
Questions 1-7 The reading passage has nine paragraphs labelled A-I.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
NB: You may use any letter more than once.
1 An explanation of a phenomenon in which bees disappear
2 The impact of bees on other plants and animals
3 The fate of the UK agency that protects bees
4 Some dangers that bees faced in the 20th century
5 Details of the combination of causes that indicate a hive is likely to
collapse
6 The global decline in the number of bees
7 A fungus that is a particular threat to bees
Questions 8-13 Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for
each answer.

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