第1670期:The importance of bees

How do you feel about bees? Do you get irritated when they buzz around you and do you fear their mission is just to sting you? Love them or loathe them, these little insects are extremely important creatures, and without them we might starve.

你觉得蜜蜂怎么样？当它们在您周围嗡嗡作响时，您会感到恼火吗？您是否担心它们的任务只是刺痛您？爱它们或厌恶它们，这些小昆虫都是极其重要的生物，没有它们我们可能会饿死。

Bees deserve some respect – they give us honey, and they play their part either pollinating the many vegetables and fruits we eat directly or pollinating the food for the animals that we then consume. In fact, they are the world’s most important pollinators. That’s not all – a study by the University of Reading in the UK, found bees and other pollinating insects have a global economic value of around £120bn ($150bn) and contribute around £690m ($850m) to the UK economy every year.

蜜蜂值得尊重——它们给我们带来蜂蜜，它们发挥着自己的作用，要么为我们直接食用的许多蔬菜和水果授粉，要么为我们随后食用的动物的食物授粉。事实上，它们是世界上最重要的传粉者。这还不是全部——英国雷丁大学的一项研究发现，蜜蜂和其他授粉昆虫的全球经济价值约为 1200 亿英镑（1500 亿美元），每年为英国经济贡献约 6.9 亿英镑（8.5 亿美元）。

So, bees are worth protecting, and although a small number of bee species are vital for crops such as oilseed rape, apples and strawberries, experts say we should be taking care of all our bees. Researchers say conservation efforts should be aimed at a wide number of species – even those that currently contribute little to crop pollination – in order to maintain biodiversity and ensure future food security.

因此，蜜蜂值得保护，尽管少数蜜蜂物种对油菜、苹果和草莓等作物至关重要，但专家表示，我们应该照顾好所有蜜蜂。研究人员表示，保护工作应针对大量物种——即使是那些目前对作物授粉贡献不大的物种——以维持生物多样性并确保未来的粮食安全。

Unfortunately, in recent times, bee populations have been declining due to pesticides, parasites, disease and habitat loss. It’s something we should be worried about because, as Gill Perkins, chief executive of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, told BBC Future website: “They provide a whole ecosystem service.” The recent lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic seem to have given bee populations a little boost because they faced less human disturbance, traffic and polluting fumes.

不幸的是，近年来，由于杀虫剂、寄生虫、疾病和栖息地丧失，蜜蜂数量一直在下降。这是我们应该担心的事情，因为正如 Bumblebee Conservation Trust 的首席执行官 Gill Perkins 告诉 BBC Future 网站：“它们提供了完整的生态系统服务。”最近由冠状病毒大流行引起的封锁似乎使蜜蜂数量有所增加，因为它们面临的人为干扰、交通和污染烟雾较少。

Conservationists hope, going forward, people will appreciate bees more and encourage them to thrive as they reconnect with nature. Gill Perkins says, “They are beginning to realise how their mental health and wellbeing is supported by nature – particularly by bumblebees, which are so iconic and beautiful and buzzy.” So, it really seems time to give bees a second chance.

环保主义者希望，在未来，人们会更多地欣赏蜜蜂，并鼓励它们在与自然重新建立联系时茁壮成长。吉尔·珀金斯 (Gill Perkins) 说：“他们开始意识到大自然是如何支持他们的心理健康和福祉的，尤其是大黄蜂，它们是如此标志性、美丽和嗡嗡作响。”所以，是时候给蜜蜂第二次机会了。

词汇表

buzz 嗡嗡地叫
sting 叮，蜇
insect 昆虫
pollinate 给（植物）传授花粉
pollinator 传粉昆虫
species 物种
oilseed rape 欧洲油菜
conservation （对动植物的）保护
biodiversity 生物多样性
pesticide 农药，杀虫剂
parasite 寄生生物
habitat loss 栖息地流失
ecosystem 生态系统
thrive 繁衍生息，茁壮成长
nature 自然
bumblebee 大黄蜂
give (something or someone) a second chance 再给（某物或人）一次机会