A future without bees

 

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6 Minute English

A future without bees

This is not a word-for-word transcript

Neil

Hello This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English I’m Neil

Sam

And I’m Sam How are you, Neil?

Neil

I’ve been as busy as a bee this week, Sam

Sam

Oh, don’t you sound like the bee’s knees

Neil

All right, Sam, there’s no need to get a bee in your bonnet

Sam

As you can hear, English is full of idioms involving bees

Neil

But the sad truth is that bee numbers are declining at an alarming rate and in

some places disappearing altogether

Sam

And this has serious consequences for humans

Neil

Today, one third of the food we eat depends on insects to pollinate crops, fruit

and vegetables

Sam

But bees are in trouble In some European countries up to half of all bee species

are facing extinction, placing our food supply chain at risk

Neil

Bees are vital in pollinating hundreds of crops, from apples and blackberries to

cucumbers In fact, almost all plants need insects to reproduce – which is my quiz

question – of the world’s top 50 crops, how many rely on insect pollination? Is it

a) 35 out of 50?,

b) 40 out of 50? or

c) 45 out of 50?

Sam

I reckon those busy bees pollinate b) 40 out of 50 of the most common crops

Neil

OK, Sam, we’ll find out the answer later Now, if you think back to your school

biology lessons, you may remember that plants and flowers contain both male

and female reproductive parts inside

Sam

But what exactly is going on when bees pollinate a plant? Here’s Claire Bates

from BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World to remind us

Claire Bates

What is pollination? All flowering plants need it to reproduce Pollen is moved

from the male part of a flower to the female part of a flower, then fertilisation

can happen causing fruit to grow Some staple crops such as wheat, rice and corn

are pollinated by the wind however many plants don’t release their pollen easily

and this is where insects, and especially bees, come in As they collect nectar to

eat, pollen sticks to them and they carry it from flower to flower

Neil

Pollination is the process in which pollen is taken from one plant to another so

that it can reproduce This is the important work done by bees and insects

Sam

Only after pollination can the next process occur – fertilisation - when the

pollen carried from another plant fertilises a female ovule to make new seeds

Neil

Fertilisation occurs in all flowering plants, some of which like wheat, potatoes

and rice are staple crops - food that is eaten in large amounts as part of a

community’s daily diet and provides a large fraction of their energy and nutrient

needs

Sam

Fewer bees reduces pollination levels, meaning fewer new seeds are created and

fewer crops grown

Neil

But it isn’t just the decline in bee numbers causing a problem Like us, bees need

to rest and this has led some to come up with creative new ways of

supplementing bee pollination

Sam

One such innovator is Keren Mimran, co-founder of agro-tech company, Edete

Here she is, explaining how dropping pollen from drones can pollinate crops,

giving a helping hand to hard-working bees

Keren Mimran

How come our food security is so much dependent on an insect that we cannot

really control? We can bring the bees to the orchard or to a field but we cannot

control their behaviour They do not come out of the hive when it’s raining or

when there’s heavy wind, they work only during daytime There must be a

possibility of developing a mechanical solution to the pollination challenge

Neil

Keren Mimran speaking on the BBC World Service programme People Fixing The

World Bees’ behaviour can’t be controlled - when it rains they won’t leave their

hive – the structure where bees live, either built by people or made by the bees

themselves

Sam

So Keren’s company has developed drones to drop pollen on her orchard – an

area of land on which fruit trees are grown

Neil

The need for these high-tech solutions reflects the seriousness of the pollination

problem for food security - everyone getting enough affordable and nutritious

food to meet their daily dietary needs

Sam

I had no idea bees were so important, Neil Maybe I underestimated how hard

they work

Neil

Ah, you mean today’s quiz question I asked you how many of the top 50 world

crops rely on insect pollination

Sam

And I said b) 40 out of 50 of the top crops

Neil

And you are right They certainly are the bee’s knees when it comes to

pollinating plants

Sam

So in today’s programme we’ve been hearing about the important role bees play

in pollination – transferring pollen from plant to plant, necessary for the next

stage of fertilisation – producing new seeds and fruit inside a plant

Neil

Bees and insects play a vital role in growing the world’s staple crops -

food which, eaten in large amounts, makes up the majority of a community’s

daily diet and meets their nutrient needs

Sam

So bee numbers are directly linked to the issue of food security - everyone

getting enough affordable, nutritious food to meet their dietary needs

Neil

Which explains why, when bees won’t leave their home - or hive – some people

have started using drones to pollinate their orchards – land growing fruit trees

Sam

And that’s it for this edition of 6 Minute English Bye for now

Neil

Goodbye

VOCABULARY

pollination

process in which pollen is taken from one plant or part of a plant to another so

that new plant seeds can be produced

fertilisation

plant reproduction in which pollen from one plant travels to the ovary of another

and fertilises a female ovule to make new seeds and fruit

staple crops

food, like rice or wheat, which is eaten in large amounts as part of a community’s

daily diet and provides a large fraction of their energy and nutrient needs

orchard

area of land on which fruit trees are grown

hive

structure where bees live, either built by people or made by the bees themselves

food security

everyone having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious

food that meets their dietary needs

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