can you read my honeybee report?

its due tomorrow and i jsut want to kno if i should add something or move things or what to fix .... thankss

The world’s future is a world without apples, peaches, cucumbers, or squash, a world without flowers or honey. It is a world without honeybees unless we can find the cause to CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder. Honeybees are responsible for one third of the world’s food supply. The honeybees travel thousands of miles around the world to pollinate many of our favorite treats including: blueberries, cranberries, almonds, pumpkins and watermelon. When honeybees are not flying across country, they are being relocated and transported, by truck, to different areas to continue pollinating flowers.

The Honeybee has many different scientific names. For example there is Apis mellifera which is the western honeybee, and Apis cerana which is the eastern honeybee. Apis cerana, the honeybees in our neck of the woods, live in hives throughout many different habitats: meadows, fields, and human built habitats but their original habitat is the tropical forests. Honeybees live in colonies of 10,000 to 60,000 bees. In those hives there are three different types of bees: The Queen bee, during the busy season the Queen bee will lay 1,000 to 1,500 eggs every day. The drone bees, these bees mate with the Queen. Lastly the Worker bees, these bees are the bees we see every day. They are the ones who travel and visit the many flowers in their habitat. They bring back the honey to the hives and store it in a hexagon shaped area called a comb. They store the honey in these combs to feed the young larvae growing inside. Honeybees have a very unusual way of interacting with each other. To speak, honey bees “dance”. This is how they know where and when to begin to pollinate.

Apis cerana has a very unique body structure. Their tiny bodies are split into three different regions, the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. They have two sets of wings that are attached to their abdomen. Their two sets of wings are connected so when they flap their wings to fly, the two sets move simultaneously. Honeybees also have a very unique mouth. When they are not using their labium, the tongue, to suck nectar from the flowers they tuck it under their head. This makes it easier for them to defend themselves against enemies when it is needed.

Many bee keepers across the nation became alarmed when they noticed that many of their diligent Honeybees were disappearing before their eyes. This devastation quickly became known as The Colony Collapse Disorder. Beekeeper Dave Hackenberg discovered CCD on November 12, 2006. In an interview with Daily Process via telephone, Hackenberg says “I started smoking the bees, and all of a sudden I realized that we were basically looking at empty boxes… But the thing that really amazed me was that less than 75 yards away sat another guy's bees. There were probably 120 hives, and they were in fine shape. ” According to www.nrdc.org, an estimated one third of all honey bee colonies were disappearing. If this continues, 15 billion dollars worth of the United States crops will be vulnerable.

Several scientists have been studying this outbreak since it began. They have come to quite a few conclusions for the baffling disappearance of the honey bees. One reason could be pesticide exposure within the honeybees’ habitats. The toxic sprays, destined for other nuisances in the environment are smothering the vital honey bees. It has also been said that the decrease in population could be caused by new predators immigrating into their habitats. In France there has been a significant rise in Hornets indirectly due to global warming. It has been shown that those Hornets are attacking and killing the local Honeybees. Another theory is, Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus. Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus is a virus that originated from Israel, traveled through Australia, and found its way to the United States. This virus, among others, attacks the immune system of the honey bees. A different theory is that Apis cerana have become extremely stressed due to the drastic change in the environment.

Charles Wick, a strong believer of the “virus theory”, invented the Integrated Virus Detection System. Popular mechanics states that the IVDS “hits a sample with an electric charge, then counts and sizes the particles making up the sample to identify viruses. By measuring the nanometer, the IVDS can pin down a disease in 10 minutes.” Wick’s unbelievable discovery has become part of the crucial investigation on Colony Collapse Disorder.

At this time no one knows exactly what is causing CCD. The only thing that is known is the horribly devastating outcome it can, and will, cause. If the Honeybee population continues to plummet we will lose billions of dollars in crops, not to mention the lack of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other pollinated foods. Most people find bees annoying and they are happy that they are no longer around; will they feel the same way when they can no longer grow their favorite summer fruits in their garden? This is becoming a huge problem globally.