1. The Importance
of Protecting the
Honey Bee

2. Honey Bees are Important
Because…
The honey bee is an important species to
human life. They make up 80% of the world’s
pollinating insects.
There are 20,000 species of bees but only the
honey bee can produce large enough amounts
of honey and wax for human use.
Protecting and preserving this creature is
imperative to the well-being of mankind.

3. The Three Groups of the Honey Bee Hive
Honey bees are social insects that live collectively in hives. The hive is broken
down into three different groups each with its own responsibility.
The Worker honey bee Queen honey bee Drone honey bee
Most commonly seen Just one Queen in each All male
by humans hive
Several hundred in each hive
Unfertile females Lays eggs for the next
during spring and summer
generation
Forage for food and She produces a chemical Evicted during the lean
protect the hive to guide the members of months of winter
the hive

4. Every Day Beeswax
Honey bee wax is used in the
production of:
Some cosmetics
Candles
Adhesives
Varnishes
Glue
And so much more…

5. Honey!
Some of the stored honey is fed to the bee larvae in the hive.
Most of the Honey has medicinal uses
honey in as well:
human-
maintained Sore throat soother
hives is
cultivated and Skin care and
extracted for maintenance
humans to
consume.

6. Pollination!
Honey bees pollinate most of the fruits and
vegetables that humans consume.
Most flowering plants are pollinated by
honey bees.
Honey bees pollinate by visiting flowers
and plants and sucking the nectar out of
them. While feeding on the flower, the
pollen therein sticks to the honey bee
and is carried to the next flower.
Pollination helps flowers and plants
continue to spread their seeds and grow
to produce the oxygen that humans
breathe.

7. Animals need bees too!
Honey bees also pollinate forage foods like clover on
which livestock feed.
The forage foods are important for the cattle and
other animals that humans use for food.
In the US alone it is estimated that honey bee
pollination of agricultural foods is valued at $16
billion on an annual scale and that honey bees
produce 30% of the pollination of the plant life that
is consumed by humans. (National Agricultural
Statistics Service).

8. What’s killing the bees?
Some honey bee hives have been infected with
mites. These mites are one of the major causes
of honey bee population decline.
Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is another
major factor in the declination of the honey bee.
Use of pesticides on farmers crops have
had devastating effects on the honey bees
ability to pollinate.

9. Apiaries
Funding apiaries and
research for the
preservation of this
much neglected
creature will greatly
increase production
and generate more
revenue for the
economy.

11. Credits
The Importance of Protecting the Honey Bee
• Slide show created by Erin Weasner
• 6 December 2012
• Prof. Mark Dekle
• ENC 1101

12. Works Cited
nationalgeographic.com/honeybee, 1996-2012, National Geographic Society, web, 15 Nov.
2012
new-ag.info.com, “The benefit of bees”, web, 15 Nov. 2012
World Book Encyclopedia, Scott Fetzer Co., “Bees”, pg. 200-207, 2011, 16 Nov. 2012
beespotter.mste.illinois.edu, “The Economic Importance of Bee$”, web, many authors, 16
Nov. 2012