The Affects of Abiotic Factors on Honeybees

  Bees have been an essential pollinator for many angiosperms for millions of years. They are one of the few insects recognized for their critical role in ecosystem management and are typically associated with feelings of pleasantry and awe by many gardeners and farmers. However, as Ohio State University has determined, “Since 2006, commercial beekeepers in the United States have reported honeybee colony loss rates averaging 30 percent each winter”. This statistic is startling, as nearly 90 percent of crop yields depend on pollination from bees. What is causing these losses in colonies is mainly due to abiotic and biotic factors that intertwine with each other, although in this blog, we will focus primarily on abiotic factors. Humans must recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy balance and our own footprint that affects our fellow bees. The first step to achieving this is to acknowledge what factors directly affect the honeybee population.

    Honeybees naturally interact with the world around them. While flying and gathering pollen, drones and worker bees are exposed to the environment, and with this come pollutants like heavy metals, microplastics, and carbon emissions. For instance, heavy metals such as lead and cadmium can be found in industrial areas, while microplastics are prevalent in urban and coastal environments. These pollutants pose a risk to the colony and even affect human health, but it must be noted that during bee production of honey, there is a significant risk of these pollutants being present in the honey of a hive, which in turn can be present in honeybee-based products. A publication from the Yangzhou University emphasized this when it states, “ The large-scale use of plastic has contributed to huge quantities of hazardous refuse being produced at a global level and represents one of the most prominent issues of the Anthropocene . . . Exposure to microplastics will commonly not lead to acute mortality of honeybees in the short term; rather, it decreases the gut microbiome diversity, alters the microbiome structure, and changes the expression of genes related to detoxification and immunity.” (446) This is devasting not only to the hive and humanity. As this intertwines, it serves as a reminder to humanity that everything we do plays a critical role in the ecological footprint that we leave behind. Some of the ways we can help stray away from this abiotic factor are not to litter plastics, recycle, and support local beekeepers who have fields of flowers around their farms.

    Another abiotic factor that is essential in the decreased colony population of honeybees is the use of pesticides and other agrochemicals. As crops and blooming flowers start to emerge, pesticides and herbicides are often used. However, when honeybees pollinate these contaminated crops, they return to their hive with virtually poisoned pollen. The bees then process and eat the honey they make with the pollen, infecting and spreading the effects of these chemicals within the hive. Yangzhou University, once again, sheds light on the tragedy that fills a hive affected by agrochemicals, “Deltamethrin, acetamiprid, fumagillin, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and fipronil exposure reduces drone survival and sperm viability and concentration and increases the percentage of sperm with defective membrane integrity while increasing sperm metabolism, which may be associated with drone infertility. These stresses on queens and drones undermine sustainability, directly resulting in the loss of workers and causing colony collapse.” (445) With this in mind, this publication also states, "Mounting evidence suggests that agrochemicals, including pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and acaricides, are one of the most direct and severe threats to honeybee physiology and colony health, and some of them particularly neonicotinoids, have been directly implicated in colony collapse." (455) With new research being approached by agricultural companies, hopefully soon, there will be a new popular replacement with fewer negative effects on bees. Until then, let your weeds grow and save the bees.

                                                                        Sources

Lin, Zheguang, Siyi Shen, Kang Wang, and Ting Ji. 2023. “Biotic and Abiotic Stresses on Honeybee Health.” Integrative Zoology, July. https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12752.

             The Ohio State University. 2023. “How You Can Keep Bees From Becoming Endangered.” January 31, 2023. https://www.osu.edu/impact/research-and-innovation/bee-population.