CCD Proposal Final

8/6/2019 CCD Proposal Final

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AWARD PROPOSAL for CONSERVATIONJustification

Honeybees are essential to the state of Florida in the US. Florida, along with a few other states, is

the national leader in honey production. It annually produces 17 million pounds of honey, valued at

$15 to $20 million. Honeybees are also responsible for pollinating crops which impacts the state

economy by at least $3.3 million (Colony Collapse Disorder); hence honeybees are a pillar in the

states economy. But ever since honeybees lives have come under danger so has Floridas economy.

A new disorder called CCD is wiping out the bee numbers. CCD for bees, is similar to HIV Aids for

humans, it slowly weakens their immune system, ultimately leading to their death. This problem is

worse than it looks because the cause is ambiguous; the source can be a combination of pesticides,

malnutrition, pathogens, bee keeping practice or many other proposed reasons(Hadley Debbie).

Thus, we will devise a method to arrest this declining number of bees in Florida.

Supporting Data

Graph 1 (See Appendix) shows the variety of crops that are pollinated by the honey bees. The

decrease in the numbers of honey bees will have a direct effect on the sustainability of crops. This

will lead to a shortage of crops in the world. Scarcity means that animals and humans do not get

enough food, which might lead to our end as well. Hence this problem needs to be addressed while

it is in hand, once out of control it can turn into a catastrophe.

Graph 2 (See Appendix) graphs the results of a survey on the effect that CCD has on commercial bee

operation. Within a period of 1 year, the effect is 23%. This is a fair indication to what future holds in

store for us, if we do not tackle the problem as quickly as we can.

Graph 3 (See Appendix) shows the percentage of bees we have lost to CCD every since the disorder

came into existence. The number 70% says a lot. At this rate bees might be extinct soon.

(Disappearance of Honey Bees)

The graphs above prove that CCD is a serious problem which needs to be dealt with as soon as

possible. The numbers are staggering, reflecting the impact that CCD can have on the bee population.

At this rate bees might be extinct soon, in which case the world will lose a natural pollinator. 1/3rd of

the food we eat comes from flowering plants; and 80% of these plants are pollinated by honeybees

(Ellwood Wayne). Imagine if we lose almost 1/3rd of the food: there will be food shortage around the

world and it may become a major issue of conflict. All of this will ultimately lead to the human race

being at a disadvantage; again emphasizing on the importance of solving this problem.

Methodology

Our solution to keeping the bee population healthy is simple yet effective: encourage people to

grow bees wherever possible. We will work in conjunction with the government to spreadawareness about the importance that bees have in the society. Using the $40,000 grant from the UN,

we will set up beehives in the backyard or the farms of the people who are interested. This will be a

win-win situation for the community because the presence of bees will help widen the biodiversity

of the area, while also benefitting the members of the community. Setting up a beehive in the

backyard can give the people free honey which they can sell for money in the market. With the help

of the government, we can set up a honey selling market which accepts honey only from peoplewho

grow it in their backyards. The farm owners who choose to keep beehives in their farms will benefit

largely because in form of bees they get natural pollinators; an example would be a wine farm



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spec£ es do not sting unless provoked. The Population of bees in the environment are reducing, and

this simple method will increase the numbers of bees. The increase in the bee population will settle

for the number of bees dying, keeping the bee population stable.

Just like every coin has 2 sides so does this method; there are pros and cons to it. The negative

aspect of the method is that we are not actively involved in preserving the population of wild bees

who are worst aff ected by CCD. The positives being we are still doing our best to keep the bee

population stable. Encouraging people to maintain beehives in their backyard or farm has many

advantages%

The community has access to more honey, the people can sell money to add another

source to their income, and lastly the farmers have natural pollinators in form of bees. The

pollination of bees account up to producing almost 1&

3rd

of the food we eat; hence it is a high

priority to save them from e'

tinction.

Imp( ) ts

Economic Impact

If our proposal is taken into action, there will be many diff erent impacts in many diff erent factors.

Economically, it would lower the prices of many diff erent agriculture products.0

ne third of

Americas crops depend on honeybee pollination such asalmonds, soybeans, apples, cherries,

blackberries, cucumbers and strawberries. If honeybees disappear, these crops will still be able to be

produced since most of them can be pollinated by other pollinators such as diff erent types of bees

other than honeybees, though not on a commercial scale since honeybees are the easiest to handle

and do this job eff ectively. So if honeybees die out, the cost of crops and agricultural products will

increase, and this will cause the price of these to increase drastically in the commercial market. So if

our proposal works, the prices of agricultural goods will be able to remain stable.

Social Impact

All the people in the community who keep beehives in their backyards or farms, they increase theirknowledge about beehives. This gives everyone a common topic to chat about; this results in

creating bonds as they all have a common interests.

1 ut

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0 ur ultimate goal is to increase the number of bees in the ecosystem. We aim to keep the pro ject

going for at least 2 years; at the end of that period we will see how our pro ject has aff ected the

numbers of bees in the area. We will visit the beehive sites every 6 months and check how many

hives are active. We will also collect data regarding the population of bees in the area regularly. We

will compare the data from before our pro ject started and after our pro ject ended, and determine

whether our pro ject made an impact.0

ur long term impact is to keep the population of the

honeybees in the ecosystem stable. From the data we collected, we will determine the situation of

the population. If the population has increased or stayed stable then the goal is accomplished.

Having a steady bee population means a stable source of pollination, enabling the community to

meet the agricultural demands.



Appendix

Graph 1 The Percentage of Crops Pollinated by Honey Bees in the USAhttp://townipproject09.wikispaces.com/Disappearance+of +Honey+Bees

Graph 2 How CCD affects Commercial Bee operationshttp://townipproject09.wikispaces.com/Disappearance+of +Honey+Bees

Graph 3 Loss to the Honey Bee colonies caused by CCD

http://townipproject09.wikispaces.com/Disappearance+of +Honey+Bees



Works Cited

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TIMA .

@ om. Web. 13 May 2011.

<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2065264,00.html>.

"Colony Collapse Disorder « Florida Division of Plant Industry." F B o

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PB ant

InduF

t C

H

. Web. 11 May 2011. <http://fldpi.wordpress.com/tag/colony -collapse-

disorder/>.

"Disappearance of Honey Bees." WikiSpaces. Web. 11 May 2011.

<http://townippro ject09.wikispaces.com/Disappearance+of +Honey+Bees>.

Ellwood, Wayne.I

hH

Are They Dyi ng? Publication. Print.

Hadley, Debbie. "Colony Collapse Disorder - 10 Possible Causes of Colony Collapse

Disorder." InF

ect F

, S pi d ers , and Other Ar thr opod s . Web. 11 May 2011.

<http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/tp/CausesofCCD.htm>.

Documents

CCD Proposal Final