CAN THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BEES DECREASE THE POPULATION OF BIRDS? - BIOLOGY - 2025

The relationship between bees and birds is close, considering that the vast majority of birds feed on plants that are pollinated by these insects. In addition, many species of birds are insectivorous, having among their main food the bee.

If any variation occurs in the population of bees, it would be affecting the food chain, which could result in a population decline in the population of birds.

Bee. Source: pixabay.com

Currently, the bee is disappearing, both from its natural habitat and from commercial hives. This ecological problem is termed by researchers as the collapse disorder in bee colonies.

In the last decade, beekeepers in Europe and the United States have reported more than 30% annual loss of their hives. This problem keeps getting worse; in recent years the population of this insect has decreased by almost 70%.

This affects the crops of fruit trees, vegetables and vegetables. The reason is that they cannot reproduce efficiently, because their main pollinator, the bee, cannot fertilize them.

Causes of the disappearance of bees

The scientific community is in search of the causative agents of collapse disorder in bee colonies. Research has yielded several causes, however, it is presumed that this problem is due to the combination of several factors.

Bee visiting flower (Source: pixabay.com/)

Chemical compounds

The use of herbicides and chemical pesticides, such as neonicotinoids, could be causing the death of bees. They ingest it when they are in contact with the flowers. In addition, commercial hives are fumigated as prevention against mites.

Global warming

The increase in temperature on the ground could be causing an increase in the growth rate of certain viruses, mites and fungi. The bee is dealing with parasites like Nosema apis, which damages its nervous system.

Another pathogen is Varroa destructor, a mite that absorbs hemolymph from the bee.

On the other hand, climatic fluctuations can wreak havoc on bees, because this insect lives in places where weather patterns do not have great variations.

Ecological importance of the bee

The bee is one of the main pollinating animals of plants. In addition to this, it facilitates the dispersal of plant species to other regions, thus contributing to biodiversity. This makes productivity in ecosystems sustainable.

Another important aspect is that said insect contributes to the maintenance of genetic diversity within different plant populations. This, in turn, has an impact on the increase in the yield of fruits and flora, basic elements in the diet of herbivores.

Not only bees participate in the fertilization of flowers; the bat and some birds, like the hummingbird, do too. However, bees have something that makes them more prone to pollination: the villi on their body.

There the pollen grains are attached, creating the possibility of cross fertilization between plant species.

In Europe, bees pollinate almost 84% of commercial crops. Agriculture worldwide is highly dependent on the laborious work of this animal.

Relationship between bees and birds

Birds are highly dependent on insects; bees play a critical role in maintaining bird populations globally.

Bees, fertilizers of plants

Thanks to the work of bees to spread pollen, crops of fruits, nuts, vegetables, oilseeds and some cereals, can be maintained and spread. Furthermore, a high percentage of wild flowering plants are fertilized by this insect.

Flowers, fruits and plant species form the basis of the diet in herbivorous birds. The decline in bee populations would collapse the entire food chain, including the decline in the species of birds that feed on plants and their derivatives.

Even the disappearance of a single of the bee species would trigger a cascading effect: there would be no seeds, plants, flowers, or fruits. All the animals that feed on these would also disappear and later the carnivores would become extinct.

Within the birds, the fruitful ones form a large group. They feed on the fruits that grow on the trees, which are mostly fertilized by bees.

Some specimens that could be affected by the disappearance of the bee are the parrot and the parakeet. The parrot lives in tropical and warm areas, has a curved beak and feeds on fruits, leaves and seeds.

When the parakeet is in the wild, it climbs trees to find seeds, its main food.

Bees as part of the diet

These insects are part of the food chain and as such, their disappearance would affect the upper levels. In this trophic organization, insectivorous birds are located behind the bees, since some of the birds feed on them.

The diet of this group of birds is made up of bees, bumble bees, worms, among others. Some might ingest them seasonally or opportunistically, while other species might do so on a regular basis.

As a consequence of the disappearance of the bees, these birds would suffer a great decrease in their population. By decreasing the number of bees within an ecosystem, the quantity and diversity of food would be reduced.

This situation could cause food competition among birds, due to the shortage of insects. This could lead to a possible decline in the bird population.

Some of the birds that would suffer this population decline are the old world bee-eater and the northern nightingale. This bird, during the summer, includes bees in its diet. In the fall and winter he likes to eat fruits.

The old world bee-eater is a consumer of insects, of which the honey bee is its preferred prey.

Bees as producers of honey

Bees make honey as the end product of a laborious and organized process. With this sugary nectar, rich in a diversity of nutrients, the larvae of this pollinating insect are fed.

The combs where the honey is kept, and which will be the nests of the larvae, are made of wax. This is produced by young honey bees through their cherry glands.

The wax is used to build the hexagonal shaped alveoli of the hives, where the honey will be stored and later the queen bee will deposit the eggs.

There are birds, such as the Zambezi pointer, that feed on this wax. This organic material is very difficult to digest, due to the fact that the enzyme in charge of its digestion, lipase, is unable to hydrolyze it.

Despite this, this bird regularly consumes beeswax. If these insects disappear, this valuable source of food for the indicator bird would not exist, seriously affecting its population.

References

1. Earth Talk (2018). Why Are Honeybees Disappearing ?. Thought Co. Recovered from thoughtco.com.
2. University of California - Berkeley (2006). "Pollinators Help One-third Of The World's Food Crop Production." ScienceDaily.Reviewed from sciencedaily.com.
3. Elizabeth Grossman (2013) Declining Bee Populations Pose a Threat to Global Agriculture.Yale environment 360. Retrieved from e360.yale.edu
4. Alison Pearce Stevens (2014). Why are bees vanishing ?. Science new for students. Recovered from sciencenewsforstudents.org
5. Hernández, Elisa T. and Carlos A. López Morales (2016). The disappearance of bees in the world: pollination, ecology, economics and politics. Sciences, Recovered from revistaciencias.unam.mx.