What will happen if field bees didn't do their job?

Answer 1

Well, to some degree, your question depends on what a bee is doing. First, the term "field bee" can have several definitions. Some use it to mean worker bees from a honey bee colony, some us it to mean any bee working a field, which can be almost any bee type or species, some have other meanings. I will use it to be any bee "working the field."

Second, what is the bee doing? Is it 1. Collecting nectar to make honey, 2. Collecting pollen for their hive, 3. Pollinating the plant (transferring pollen from stamen to pastel, referred to as pollination), 4. Drinking water, 5. Collecting propolis (used for sealing and waterproofing the hive), or 6. Looking for a new place to collect honey or pollen?

If bees do not collect honey, or pollen, the hive will die. If bees to not drink water, the bee itself will die. If bees do not seal their hive, water can get in and rot the hive, kill the brood or cause the honey to ferment. That can kill a colony too. If no bees are looking for new honey sources, the hive will run out of honey and die.

Now, from an economic perspective: If bees are not "working a farmer's field (pollination, something not intended by the bee, but a desperately needed function for some types of food production for man), the farmer may not produce a crop which is large enough to pay his bills. He can be forced out of business, and we will not have enough food available to buy. Some people may die.

Bees are not the only insects that pollinate plants, and not all plants need insect pollination but, with the use of insecticide, many natural pollinating insect species have been greatly reduced in numbers. Sometimes insecticides can kill bees too, this is a problem for bee keepers. There are also diseases bees can get that can kill-off a bee hive. Bee keepers are having problems with this too.

This means farmers that grow plants that need insect pollination are increasingly dependent upon bee species to do the job. Without bees farmers may not be able to produce enough food for all the people of the world to eat. That would be a serious problem. There would be less food, less variety of foods, food would be more expensive and there may not be enough food for all people, so some people would die.Therefore, it is very important that bees keep doing their job in the field.