蜜蜂終結？

蜜蜂終結？
Honeybee End?
From: Andy Soos, ENN
Published March 11, 2011 01:45 PM
Translation by Autumnson Blog

The mysterious collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon. Declines in managed bee colonies, seen increasingly in Europe and the US in the past decade, are also now being observed in China and Japan and there are the first signs of African collapses from Egypt, according to the report from the United Nations. Beekeepers in Western countries have been reporting slow declines of stocks for many years, apparently due to impaired protein production, changes in agricultural practice, or unpredictable weather. In early 2007, abnormally high die-offs (30-70% of hives) of European honey bee colonies occurred in the U.S. and Québec; such a decline seems unprecedented in recent history. This has been dubbed Colony collapse disorder (CCD); it is unclear whether this is simply an accelerated phase of the general decline due to more adverse conditions in 2006, or a novel phenomenon. More than a dozen factors, ranging from declines in flowering plants and the use of memory-damaging insecticides to the world-wide spread of pests and air pollution, may be behind the emerging decline of bee colonies across many parts of the globe.
神秘的蜂蜜蜂群崩潰正在成為一個全球性現象，尤其是政府負責的蜂群跌幅，在過去十年中於歐洲和美國被看到越發增加，現在亦在中國和日本被觀察到，及從埃及有非洲崩潰的初步跡象，根據來自聯合國的報告。在西方國家的養蜂人多年來一直在報告存貨的緩慢下降，顯然地是由於受損的蛋白生產、農業做法的改變、或不可預知的天氣。 在2007年初，歐洲蜂蜜蜂群異常地高的相繼死亡（蜂巢的30-70％）發生在美國和魁北克。這樣的下降在近代歷史上似乎是前所未有的，這被稱為蜂群衰竭失調（CCD）；它還不清楚這是否僅是一個普遍下降的加速階段，由於2006年有更多的不利條件，抑或是一個新穎的現象。有超過一打的因素，從開花植物的跌幅和使用損害記憶的殺蟲劑，至全球性蔓延的蟲害和空氣污染，都可能在全球許多地方出現蜂群的下跌。
Bees are generalist floral visitors, and will pollinate a large variety of plants, but by no means all plants. Of all the honey bee species, only Apis mellifera has been used extensively for commercial pollination of crops and other plants. The value of these pollination services is commonly measured in the billions of dollars.
蜜蜂都是通才的花卉訪客，及授粉在種類繁多的植物，但絕不是所有的植物。在所有的蜜蜂品種中，只有意大利蜜蜂已被廣泛用於作物和其它植物的商業授粉。這些授粉服務的價值通常是以十億美元計量。
Currently being used as pollinators in managed pollination are honey bees, bumblebees, alfalfa leafcutter bees, and orchard mason bees. Humans also can be pollinators, as the gardener who may hand pollinates squash blossoms.
目前被用來作為授粉者尤其是政府負責的授粉的是蜜蜂、大黃蜂、苜蓿切葉蜜蜂、和果園石匠蜜蜂。人類也可以做授粉者，因為園丁可為南瓜花手傳授粉。
Declines in managed bee colonies date back to the mid 1960s in Europe but have accelerated since 1998, especially in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.
尤其是政府負責的蜂群的跌幅可追溯到歐洲在1960年代中期，而且自1998年以來加速，特別是在比利時、法國、德國、意大利、荷蘭、西班牙和英國。
In North America, losses of honey bee colonies since 2004 have left the continent with fewer managed pollinators than at any time in the past 50 years.
在北美，蜜蜂群的損失自2004年以來已令大陸尤其是政府負責的傳粉昆蟲更少，比過去50年的任何時候。
Chinese bee keepers, who manage both western and eastern species of honey bees, have recently faced several inexplicable and complex symptoms of colony losses in both species.
管理西方和東方種蜜蜂的中國養蜂人，最近已面臨著一些令人費解的和複雜的症狀，在這兩者物種的蜂群損失。
A quarter of beekeepers in Japan have been confronted with sudden losses of their bee colonies.
日本四分之一的養蜂人已在對抗蜂群的突如其來損失。
In Africa, beekeepers along the Egyptian Nile have been reporting signs of CCD although to date there are no other confirmed reports from the rest of the continent.
在非洲，沿埃及尼羅河的養蜂人已在報告CCD跡象，雖然迄今為止還沒有其它確定的報告來自大陸的其它地方。
There seem to be multiple factors involved in CCD. Habitat degradation, including the loss of flowering plant species that provide food for bees, is among the key factors behind the decline of wild-living pollinators.
似乎有多種因素涉及CCD，棲息地退化包括對蜜蜂提供食物的開花植物品種的損失，是野生生物授粉者下降的背後其中的關鍵因素之一。
An Anglo-Dutch study has found that since the 1980s, there has been a 70 per cent drop in key wild flowers among, for example, the mint, pea and perennial herb families.

Parasites and Pests, such as the well known Varroa mite which feeds on bee fluids, are also a factor.

Other parasites include the small hive beetle, which damages honeycombs, stored honey and pollen. Endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, it has spread to North America and Australia and may come to Europe.

Bees may also be suffering from competition by 'alien species' such as the Africanized bee in the United States and the Asian hornet which feed on European honey bees. The hornet has now colonized nearly half of France since 2004.

Air pollution may be interfering with the ability of bees to find flowering plants and thus food.

Electromagnetic fields from sources such as power lines might also be changing bee behavior. Bees are sensitive as they have small abdominal crystals that contain lead.

Herbicides and pesticides may be reducing the availability of wild flowers and plants needed for food and for the larval stages of some pollinators. Laboratory studies have found that some insecticides and fungicides can act together to be 1,000 times more toxic to bees.

Some insecticides, including those applied to seeds and which can migrate to the entire plant as it grows, and others used to treat cats, fish, birds and rabbits, may also be taking their toll.
Studies have shown that such chemicals can affect the sense of direction, memory and brain metabolism in bees

The management of hives may also be adding to the problem. Some of the treatments against pests may actually be harmful to bees and a growing habit of re-using equipment and food from dead colonies might be spreading disease and chemicals to new hives.

Transporting bees from one farm to another in order to provide pollination services increasingly unavailable from nature could be an additional factor. In the United States, trucks carrying up to 20 million bees are common and each year over two million colonies travel across the continent. Mortality rates, following transportation, can be as much as 10 per cent of a colony

The full report, Global Bee Colony Disorders and other Threats to Insect Pollinators, can be downloaded at:

http://www.unep.org/dewa/Portals/67/pdf/Global_Bee_Colony_Disorder_and_Threats_insect_pollinators.pdf

For more information: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=664&ArticleID=6923&l=en&t=long

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/42455

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