The Bee Colony Collapse Disorder: The Impact of Pests, Pesticides, and the Proposed Solutions for Sustainability

Two terrestrial resource challenges presented in the videos and reading materials are the massive dying of bees (A disastrous Year for Bees, 2013), and the control of pests [Chi]. The main stated cause for the dying out of honey bees is colony collapse disorder. The causes of pests that harm crops are numerous and pesticides are the primary resource for combatting the problem.

These issues affect sustainability by reducing the output of crops that farmers can produce. Bees pollinate numerous crops such as melon crops and cherry trees.

Pests cause damage to crops and the use of pesticides is controversial due to the health risks associated with them. These issues can affect me personally since if crop output is reduced then food prices can rise due to supply and demand.

The video about the bees did not present any solutions to the problem. I would suggest more research needs to be done on what is truly killing off the bee populations so that we can begin to fight the epidemic.

There are numerous proposed solutions to the problems dealing with pests and pesticides. These proposals include stricter government regulation of pesticide use, using natural means of pest control, and a system known as Integrated Pest Management that is gaining popularity.

The major challenge in implementing the suggested solution for bees would be funding. Research requires time and money, and for those funds to be made available, people need to be educated on the issue and realize how important it is. The major challenge in implementing solutions for pests and pesticides is getting people to agree on what the best solution is.

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Not everyone likes the use of pesticides, but pesticides have been shown to improve crop yields. Many are in favor of natural means of pest control that pproducetruly organic food, but this can lead to smaller crop yields.

References

1. A Disastrous Year for Bees. (Video file). (2013). Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com/grnr/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=5e3340d40f01c907265e21160dc88a39&prodId=GRNR&userGroupName-uphoenix uopx&tabID=T008&docid=CT324872744&type=retrieve&contentSet=GREF&version=1.0
2. Pests and Pesticides: Growing Crops Sustainably. (n.d.). In D. D. Chiras, Environmental Science 9th Edition (pp. 496-518). Jones and Bartlett Learning, LLC.