Description: This is
a VOA Special English General News Report.
See text below
Text:
Bee expert May Berenbaum knows that many people have
an uneasy feeling about bees because they sting.
MAY BERENBAUM: "But on the other hand, people all
over the world have developed a dependency on the
honey bee because it is really the world's premier
managed pollinator. And here in the US, for example,
over 90 crops depend on honeybees for pollination
services."
Farmers depend on bees to help them grow crops. But
many bees have died in recently because of what
scientists call colony collapse disorder. Berenbaum
says there are many reasons for this. One is the
long-distance transport of bees to pollinate crops.
This has helped spread bee diseases. Another reason
is the build-up of insect-killing pesticides in bee
colonies. Researchers like Berenbaum are studying
the problem. Yet she says all of us can help.
MAY BERENBAUM: "You can buy local honey. Local honey
is available at stores only because there is a local
beekeeper who went to the trouble of harvesting it.
So the more beekeepers there are, the more honey
there is. We've, over the last 25 years, seen an
alarming decline in the number of beekeepers. It's
starting ... the interest is resurging, which is the
best news for America's bees ... actually more
beekeepers!"
She says people can help by planting flowers and
learning to live with weeds, some of these provide
food for bees. Berenbaum was in Los Angeles to
receive the Tyler Prize for Environmental
Achievement. She says the prize of $200,000 will
help a project involving "citizen-scientists."
MAY BERENBAUM: "We have one project called
bee-spotter, which is now restricted to Illinois,
where we ask people to go out with a digital camera,
even a cellphone, and photograph either bumblebees
or honey bees."
She is pleased with the project.
MAY BERENBAUM: "A citizen-scientist outside Peoria
actually sent in a photograph of a species of
bumblebee, the rusty patched bumblebee, bombus
affinis, that was thought to have gone extinct in
that area, and was recovered by a private citizen
with a digital camera."
Berenbaum says we should not forget that bees are
also important for the honey they produce. So in
addition to pollinating crops, the honey bee makes
our lives a little sweeter. I'm Christopher Cruise.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
