Some of my favorite pastries are honey tea and honey egg tarts. Honey has a very viscous texture that glides smoothly in one’s mouth. Honey sweetens without the need to add preservatives to the food or drink. It makes a great alternative to sugar as it reduces the intake of your glucose and insulin levels. I find honey tea to be more effective than cough candies. The warm taste helps loosen the congestion of my mucus and soothe my sore throat whenever I get ill. I cannot imagine eating my pastries without some sort of honey. According to Koi Lover’s “Buzz Buzz,” there is a decline in the honey bee population. This means less honey is being produced. Thankfully, Koi Lover mentions how the scientists from the University of Texas of Austin found a method to save the honey bees.
I learned that one of the contributing factors to the decline of the honey bee population came from the varroa mites. These mites are parasites that carry the deformed wing virus. They can transfer this virus to the honey bees and cause high mortality rates amongst the bees. I also learned that scientists created a bacteria strain that could protect the honey bees from the varroa mites and enhanced the immune system to detect and destroy the mites. Although Koi Lover did not specify how far this study had reached, the discovery of the bacteria strain was an enlightenment in itself.
I believe there have been too many parasites and diseases mutating, surviving, and infecting all sorts of living creatures. A lot of the time, these parasites do more harm than good. They are known to not be beneficial to the food chain, and they have the capability to destroy a whole population of living species. Because parasites cannot be detected by the naked eye, they can be very fearsome. For example, there could be a tapeworm parasite living in your brain. However, you may not notice that the parasite is squirming or growing inside your brain. This is because it takes around a year or two for a lump to appear that signifies the existence of a living tapeworm. Another example is the eye parasites. They can cause humans to lose vision and introduce pain to the eye.
To summarize, not only are parasites detrimental to bees, they are detrimental to humans, animals, and other types of bugs. I agree with Koi Lover that honey bees are essential to the ecosystem and the pollination cycle. Bees are part of the food chain that help pollinate flowers. The loss of bees would indicate the loss of other species following the food chain. Although bees appear intimidating with their stingers, I believe bees are more approachable, colorful, and harmless in comparison to a single parasite. Bees will only sting people if they feel threatened. This means if you are nice and harmless to the bees, the bees will not hurt you. In addition, when bees sting humans, they would need to rip open their abdomen to remove their stingers most of the time, leading to the death of these bees. These bees produce honey, so they are more than worthy to be protected.
by Naive Health Lady Lu February 9, 2020
Naive Healthy Lady Lu 