Bees sentinels of our environment

There is no doubt that bees play a role of extraordinary importance in assessing the health of our environment, for the simple fact that they guarantee plant biodiversity, favoring pollination and the natural cycle some plants. A FAO figure will amaze the readers of this article: of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of food products worldwide, 71 are pollinated by bees . Consequently, it does not take long to understand the primary role of sentinel bees in our environment: in the circumstance in which the balance of nature should undergo changes, bees would be the first to grasp the signals and / or malfunctions of the 'ecosystem. Just think for example of the beehive depopulation syndrome, dated 2006: for years both in Europe and, above all, in the USA, the extinction of domestic bees was held, mainly due to a whole series of environmental changes, natural phenomena (viruses or acariosis) and human activities, such as the use of insecticides and pesticides. It is no coincidence that in the areas where its use has been suspended, the mortality of pollinating bees has dropped dramatically. A study carried out by the University of Nottingham has highlighted the correlation between the insecticide imidacloprid and a neonicotinoid capable of altering the DNA of bees. Specifically, the genes that operate to regulate the energy used by the cells of the bee organism tend to change as a result of the insecticide effect. Fortunately, however, the problem of bee dying has come to a halt with a lot of world population growth. This is also partly due to the stop of the E.U. to harmful insecticides and campaigns to save pollinating bees launched by Greenpeace.

BEES SENTINELS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT