One out of every three meals eaten by humans is made possible by honey bees. If honey bees die out, humans will follow a few years later.
In this fascinating video the critical link between honey bees and life on earth is explored. The bottom line: the death of bees will have disastrous consequences for life on earth.
Today’s Gigglebit is a bit grim, but it’s for a very good reason as our mission isn’t just to titillate but to inform and fascinate. As we reported yesterday, global warming is already having a serious impact on bee colonies.
The scary truth is the bee population on our planet is dying out. Colony collapse is a very real issue and, in the US, colonies have halved from 5m in 1998 to 2.5m today.
Across the planet, millions of hives have disappeared with some hive owners claiming a 30pc to 90pc collapse in hive populations.
So, why do honey bees matter? In this fascinating animated video, Kurz Gesagt explains why.
For example, one out of every three meals eaten by humans is made possible by honey bees.
They are so important that if all the honey bees were to die out, thousands of plant species would die too, leading to millions of people starving in the following years.
The dollar-value of plants pollinated by honey bees is US$265bn.
Apples, onions, pumpkins and food consumed by livestock to produce meat and dairy products all rely on honey bees.
Einstein supposedly said: “If honey bees die out, humans will follow a few years later.”
This is serious stuff.
Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic’s daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note – because sometimes the lighter side of STEM should be taken seriously, too.
