Insects send a chill down a lot of people’s spines. Hence, it’s quite fitting for Internauts to refer to spiders as “nopes” and centipedes as “nope rope nopes”—when you see one, you are certain to say “nope”!
However, all is not lost as Mother Nature has given us some adorable insects like butterflies, ladybugs, and, of course, bees. Yes, you do get the occasional bee sting every once in a while, but they outweigh your discomfort of its self-defense by being a vital component in the planet’s ecosystem.
Scientists say that bees have become the single most important animal on the planet. So important, in fact, that humanity is at stake if bee populations go south… which is, unfortunately, becoming a reality. Bored Panda reached out to Dr. George McGavin on the issue. Dr. McGavin is an entomologist, academic, and explorer, who has dedicated over 25 years to teaching students at Oxford, many of whom are now in the forefront of conservation and insect biology.
Image credits: Pexels
The Earthwatch Institute, an international environmental charity aiming to work for the good of the planet, stated in the Royal Geographical Society that bees are now the most important living thing on the planet. Unfortunately, multiple species of bees have been placed on the list of endangered animals with studies showing a rapid global decline in the bee population.
Dr. McGavin stresses the importance of bees in the global ecosystem: “The critical symbiosis between insects, especially bees, and flowering plants has created a rich diversity of life on Earth. The origin of bees coincides with the main radiation of the angiosperms approximately 100 million years ago.”
Image credits: Jason Riedy
“There are around 20,000 species of bee (not just honey bees!) and many are solitary species,” elaborates Dr. McGavin. “Bees are essential to our survival—without the world’s bees, we would have to change our eating habits dramatically. No flowers, no fruits, no vegetables.”
According to a Greenpeace report, roughly 60 to 90 percent of the food we eat needs help from pollinators such as bees to reproduce. This percentage includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts, much of which we consume daily. This also means that as bee populations dwindle, Earth’s biodiversity also diminishes, potentially affecting further species and causing a domino effect in that regard.
Image credits: ASAP Science
ASAP Science illustrates this with almond plants. Almonds rely on pollination to produce almond nuts. The hulls are used as feed for cattle and chickens. No bees, means no almonds, means no cattle or chicken, meaning humans will have less meat, milk, and other products. This is just one of the many food ecosystems that are affected by bee populations.
Image credits: PollyDot
This is besides the fact that there is an entire multi-billion dollar industry revolving around bees and bee products such as honey, nectar, wax, and bee bread.
Dr. McGavin adds: “We know we can’t feed the world’s population on meat and fish, which is already in short supply, so it will be bread and gruel all round.”
Image credits: Alexandre Dulaunoy
Many NGOs and activist groups are calling for reform in the hope of stopping the rapid decline in bee populations. Apart from natural bee diseases and invasive species, the main factors affecting bee livelihood are insecticides, climate change, and lack of flora. By making changes in how humanity grows its food and how it treats Mother Earth, it will become possible to also turn the tide on the decline of bee numbers.
Image credits: cbransto
This isn’t just a matter of the bee industry alone—everyone gets to play in keeping up bee populations. When asked how could everyday people help bees survive, Dr. McGavin put it plain and simple: “Lose the lawn, never use pesticides, and buy organic food.”
If you want to learn more, Bored Panda has already discussed the ways in which everyone can take small steps in helping bees survive.
Image credits: Myriams-Fotos
Here’s how the internet reacted to the importance of bees…
To bee or not to bee, that is the question. ____ Actually, there's no question about it, we need the bees.
Bees land on me all the time. If they land on my arm then I lift it to my face so I can say hi. Bee realizes pretty quickly I'm not a flower and is on his way. I've yet to get stung or even see the bee get a little bit unnerved or angry. Bees are awesome. I like them a lot.
They missed the opportunity to make the title "Bees Are Now Officially Declared To Be The Most Important BEEINGS On Earth"
Missing an opportunity like that is pun-ishable with one or more stings. ;-)
Load More Replies... 
Humans - the only self loathing animal on the planet
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As much I agree with it and as a passionate beekeeper, please don’t think of becoming a beekeeper yourself just because of it. Actually solitary bees are much more important than honey bee. I’m not saying that honey bee isn’t important but since people realising how much bees are important, many people became hobby beekeepers and aside from a lot of mismanagement, the increase of honey bee is causing even more problems for other bees. If you want to become beekeeper because bees are pretty fascinating then please learn first how to be a good beekeeper
"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." ALBERT EINSTEIN.
Humans are far and away the most important species because we're the only ones who can affect things globally (and purposefully). Scientists are actually working on bee drones to help with pollination. Bees are very important, but they can't play god like we can (and do). That means by default we're the most "important", for lack of a better word.
I would say that humans are the species that has the most impact and is the most destructive, not that it is the most important. If you compressed Mother Earth's timeline of existence into a one-year period, our species has been in existence only the last 13 SECONDS of the Earth's year. Compare 13 seconds to 31,536,000 seconds in a year. Considering that, I think it's hard to say humans are the most important.
Load More Replies...
Well, you can't spell being without be. So I think that pretty much explains it.
SAVING OUR OCEANS CHECK THEM OUT SEE THEIR INSTAGRAM @BEACHLIFECO WWW.BEACHLIFECOMPANY.COM
On Instagram @BEACHLIFECO saves our ocean reefs by ocean clean ups and planting new coral. owned by a U.S. Marine. Let's save the BEE'S too!!! @BEACHLIFECO WWW.BEACHLIFECOMPANY.COM
How in the world someone can classify animals to be more important than humans is beyond me, yes they are needed, yes they are important, yes they are loved but never ever more important than humans. Gosh!
i of course believe this. believe it or not, bees are the reason why humans survive.
The Most Important Living Being On Planet Earth Gentlemen, I am Extremely Surprised And Seriously Questioned Your Position ~ that You Value “BEES” As Most Important Living Being On Planet Earth OVER ‘Men’!! ~~~ What Has Bees Done That Men Could’nt or Didn’t Do To Make Men LESS In Value & Importance than BEES In the World!! ~~~ I AM SURE WHEN YOU RE-EVALUATE YOUR STATEMENT YOU REALIZE HOW DESPERATELY WRONG YOU ARE! ~‘MY RESEARCH HAS NOT COMPLETED YET!!’ SO FAR IN MY RESEARCH NO WIZARD, GENIUS OR EDUCATED PEOPLE HAS POINTED OUT THAT “MEN” ARE THE SUPERIOR, MOST IMPORTANT BEING ON PLANET EARTH!
"Turning toxic — the Bayer-Monsanto merger | DW Documentary" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwllBdC0Iww
"Half a billion dead honey bees in Brazil show what happens when you roll back pesticide regulations" https://qz.com/1691619/bees-are-dying-by-the-millions-in-brazil-and-pesticides-are-to-blame/
"Agriculture in the United States has become 48 times more toxic to insects over the last 25 years, largely due to a controversial, widely used class of pesticides that are particularly harmful to bees" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/06/us-pesticide-neonics-toxic-harmful-bees-study
"Neonicotinoid use has been linked in a range of studies to adverse ecological effects, including honey-bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) and loss of birds due to a reduction in insect populations." "Imidacloprid (a neonic) is the most widely used insecticide in the world." "in 2018, the EU banned the three main neonicotinoids (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) for all outdoor uses." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid
America: We don't care. COAL! OIL! REMOVE ENVIRONMENT REGULATIONS! CLIMATE CHANGE ISN'T A THING! $$$$$$$
Many people are more concerned about their lawn and also spray flowers, wake up people !!!
I am proud to have many plants and trees the bees love and keep alive. I make sure there's ample water sources in my backyard for them in the summer time. They are so important for healthy ecosystem
To tiny knighton Without bees plants would not produce the food we need Dua
Bats are the only pollinators of agave plants. No agave = no tequila.
I thought everyone knew this. They've been saying it for years and even the "bee movie" shows how important they are.
To bee or not to bee, that is the question. ____ Actually, there's no question about it, we need the bees.
Bees land on me all the time. If they land on my arm then I lift it to my face so I can say hi. Bee realizes pretty quickly I'm not a flower and is on his way. I've yet to get stung or even see the bee get a little bit unnerved or angry. Bees are awesome. I like them a lot.
They missed the opportunity to make the title "Bees Are Now Officially Declared To Be The Most Important BEEINGS On Earth"
Missing an opportunity like that is pun-ishable with one or more stings. ;-)
Load More Replies... Humans - the only self loathing animal on the planet
Load More Replies... As much I agree with it and as a passionate beekeeper, please don’t think of becoming a beekeeper yourself just because of it. Actually solitary bees are much more important than honey bee. I’m not saying that honey bee isn’t important but since people realising how much bees are important, many people became hobby beekeepers and aside from a lot of mismanagement, the increase of honey bee is causing even more problems for other bees. If you want to become beekeeper because bees are pretty fascinating then please learn first how to be a good beekeeper
"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." ALBERT EINSTEIN.
Humans are far and away the most important species because we're the only ones who can affect things globally (and purposefully). Scientists are actually working on bee drones to help with pollination. Bees are very important, but they can't play god like we can (and do). That means by default we're the most "important", for lack of a better word.
I would say that humans are the species that has the most impact and is the most destructive, not that it is the most important. If you compressed Mother Earth's timeline of existence into a one-year period, our species has been in existence only the last 13 SECONDS of the Earth's year. Compare 13 seconds to 31,536,000 seconds in a year. Considering that, I think it's hard to say humans are the most important.
Load More Replies... Well, you can't spell being without be. So I think that pretty much explains it.
SAVING OUR OCEANS CHECK THEM OUT SEE THEIR INSTAGRAM @BEACHLIFECO WWW.BEACHLIFECOMPANY.COM
On Instagram @BEACHLIFECO saves our ocean reefs by ocean clean ups and planting new coral. owned by a U.S. Marine. Let's save the BEE'S too!!! @BEACHLIFECO WWW.BEACHLIFECOMPANY.COM
How in the world someone can classify animals to be more important than humans is beyond me, yes they are needed, yes they are important, yes they are loved but never ever more important than humans. Gosh!
i of course believe this. believe it or not, bees are the reason why humans survive.
The Most Important Living Being On Planet Earth Gentlemen, I am Extremely Surprised And Seriously Questioned Your Position ~ that You Value “BEES” As Most Important Living Being On Planet Earth OVER ‘Men’!! ~~~ What Has Bees Done That Men Could’nt or Didn’t Do To Make Men LESS In Value & Importance than BEES In the World!! ~~~ I AM SURE WHEN YOU RE-EVALUATE YOUR STATEMENT YOU REALIZE HOW DESPERATELY WRONG YOU ARE! ~‘MY RESEARCH HAS NOT COMPLETED YET!!’ SO FAR IN MY RESEARCH NO WIZARD, GENIUS OR EDUCATED PEOPLE HAS POINTED OUT THAT “MEN” ARE THE SUPERIOR, MOST IMPORTANT BEING ON PLANET EARTH!
"Turning toxic — the Bayer-Monsanto merger | DW Documentary" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwllBdC0Iww
"Half a billion dead honey bees in Brazil show what happens when you roll back pesticide regulations" https://qz.com/1691619/bees-are-dying-by-the-millions-in-brazil-and-pesticides-are-to-blame/
"Agriculture in the United States has become 48 times more toxic to insects over the last 25 years, largely due to a controversial, widely used class of pesticides that are particularly harmful to bees" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/06/us-pesticide-neonics-toxic-harmful-bees-study
"Neonicotinoid use has been linked in a range of studies to adverse ecological effects, including honey-bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) and loss of birds due to a reduction in insect populations." "Imidacloprid (a neonic) is the most widely used insecticide in the world." "in 2018, the EU banned the three main neonicotinoids (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) for all outdoor uses." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid
America: We don't care. COAL! OIL! REMOVE ENVIRONMENT REGULATIONS! CLIMATE CHANGE ISN'T A THING! $$$$$$$
Many people are more concerned about their lawn and also spray flowers, wake up people !!!
I am proud to have many plants and trees the bees love and keep alive. I make sure there's ample water sources in my backyard for them in the summer time. They are so important for healthy ecosystem
To tiny knighton Without bees plants would not produce the food we need Dua
Bats are the only pollinators of agave plants. No agave = no tequila.
I thought everyone knew this. They've been saying it for years and even the "bee movie" shows how important they are.
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