ex2 Read the article about the honeybee.

Why are they dying?


Honeybees are essential to life on the planet. Pollination occurs when pollen is carried from one plant to another, and honeybees are the world’s most important pollinators. If bees die out, many plants will not get pollinated and that would mean many changes for humans too. Honeybees are in danger of extinction, so scientists are trying to fi nd out what is causing so many to die.

One of the main problems for bees is that they do not have enough food. As more land is used for farming, roads and houses, there are fewer natural spaces for fl owers to grow.

Also, bees sleep all through the winter, and because of

global warming many plants have already fi nished fl owering by the time the bees come out of hibernation. The bees die because they have less food but the plants also die as they depend on bees to pollinate them.

Disease is another killer for bees. Over the last 20 years, bee populations have been attacked by tiny eight-legged animals called Varroa mites. Bees often live in wooden boxes called hives; one hive can contain thousands of bees. If Varroa mites get into a hive, all the bees may die.


Chemicals used to stop insects damaging farmers’ crops are killing bees too. Farms today are often very big, so these chemicals are used over very large areas and the bees cannot escape. In some parts of the world where farmers use lots of chemicals, there are no bees left and the farmers have to pollinate their plants by hand. The future for the honeybee really doesn’t look bright.

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