Erasmus+ Project: Young Worker Bees

Bees are considered among the most important animals for the survival of humans, as well as all animal species living on planet Earth. In fact, as Tepedino states in "The Importance of Bees and Other Insect Pollinators in Maintaining the Composition of Floral Species" (1979), bees are among the most essential pollinators, accounting for 68% of flower and plant pollination on our planet. As a result, if this species were endangered, all living beings, including the planet itself, would be threatened. There are between 17,000 known species of bees on this planet, and Buchmann and Ascher, in their article "The Plight of Pollinating Bees" (2015), state that the population of this important animal is declining, especially the bumblebee (Bombus), which is almost nonexistent. One of the most significant factors driving this decline in the bee population over the past 60 years is essentially habitat loss and the decline in floral abundance and diversity resulting from agricultural intensification (Goulson, Lye, and Darvill, in "Decline and Conservation of Bumble Bees"). Due to their monogamous breeding system, lower biodiversity corresponds to a smaller variety of these special insects. In this paper, the authors also point out that although there are pollinators other than bees, the removal of such an important pollinator from networks causes the greatest rate of decline in plant species diversity. In fact, the yields of many fields, fruits, and seed crops are improved by bumblebees. Therefore, we can also recognize the impact of the reduction in the bee population in terms of reduced economic performance.

The value added by this insect to crop yields in the United States has been estimated at between $5 and $14 billion per year. Additionally, an article called "More than 75 percent decline in 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas" by Caspar Hallmann Martin Sorg tells us something about bee trends in Europe. In 2017, a German study found that flying insect populations had declined by more than 75 percent in just 27 years, with wild pollinators in particular facing a wide range of threats driving their decline, including intensive agricultural practices, habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change. In fact, the IUCN European Red List of Bees revealed that more than 9 percent of European bee species face extinction. However, the same report shows that the status of more than 50% of bee species in Europe is unknown, meaning that a much larger proportion of European bee species could be in trouble. Among the most important reasons why the bee population is declining is the conversion of land from old landrace crops to monocultures grown with cheap and dangerous fertilizers and pesticides. Bumblebees primarily need flowers from April to August, and crops alone are unlikely to provide this. There are many other modern behaviors carried out by companies and also individuals that are worsening this situation. In our Youth Exchange, we will address this topic and at the same time try to imagine a solution to solve the problem at the societal level and at the same time find concrete solutions to address the problem at a unique level in everyday life.