In return for the nectar and pollen they eat, bees help plants reproduce by spreading pollen between flowers. This is called pollination. Many plants wouldn’t be able to make fruits or seeds if pollination did not happen. If not for bees, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy many of the fruits and vegetables.
The biggest challenge honey bees face is people. As more natural land develops into cities and farms, the bees lose natural nesting places. Also, they have fewer flowers to collect nectar. Many people in India are afraid of bees, as well. They are mostly afraid of the giant honey bee since it looks scarier than other types of honey bees. If people in Bengaluru see a giant honey bee nest on their building or in their neighborhood, they will often kill all the bees. It is very sad that they kill the bees instead of having them safely removed without hurting the bees.
Right now we don’t know much about these types of honey bees. That’s one of the reasons why I’m studying them. Because we don’t know much about them, we don’t know if we should worry about them. Honey bees in the U.S. are dying, but no one knows if honey bees in India are dying too or not. One way to keep bees from dying in India is to teach people about why they’re important. If people understand why we should care about bees, then they are less likely to kill them. We all need to work together to save the bees.
