Sarah Billings
Core Chemistry Mr. Ippolito
Wines, Michael. "Honeybees’ Mysterious Die-Off Appears to Worsen." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 May 2015. Web. 13 May 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/us/honeybees-mysterious-die-off-appears-to-worsen.html?ref=science&_r=0>.
This New York Times article titled, “Honeybees’ Mysterious Die-Off Appears to Worsen," by Michael Wines, discusses the growing issue of honeybee deaths in the nation. According to an annual survey released by the Bee Informed Partnership, 42.1 percent of bee colonies were lost within the last twelve months. This is far above last year’s loss percentage of 34.2 percent and is the second highest loss since 2010. What’s even stranger is the fact that the death rates went way up during the last summer, rather than the winter. As Dr. vanEngelsdorp, an assistant entomology professor at the University of Maryland, describes, “What’s totally shocking to me is that the losses in summer, which should be paradise for bees, exceeded the winter losses.” Researchers aren't exactly sure why the deaths have gone up so much recently, but scientists, such as Dr. vanEngelsdorp, believe three major reasons might be poor nutrition, a deadly parasite (the varroa mite), and pesticides. More surveys will continue to be conducted by the Agricultural Department on this growing concern.
I think this article is extremely important to future society because the lack of pollination for farmers’ crops will reduce the amount of crops produced for our economy and will cost farmers almost $15 billion a year in the pollination services that bees provide. On lower spectrum effects, the decrease in bees affects the production of honey and the growth of flowers, things that people take for granted but are very important to everyday life. Surrounding the bee concern is also the increased use of pesticides, which is another negative aspect that significantly impacts our lives and will continue to get worse if something isn't done.
This article was overall a very well written and researched topic that right away caught my interest. However, it would have been better if the author had included a few more quotes from scientists other than Dr. vanEngelsdorp because then we can see different views on the matter. Also, one the major factors in dropping bee population mentioned, the parasite, was stated but not at all elaborated on, unlike the other two factors. It would have been interesting to hear more about this parasite. Besides some minor things, this article was descriptive and very interesting.
Sarah did a good job choosing an interesting topic that not many people know much about. She addressed the issue of rapid loss in the population of honey bees. I really enjoyed how she gave opinions and quotes from experts on the topic. She also gave a simple explanation for the problem she introduced and did not overcomplicate things. Although Sarah wrote a great review I noticed some places for possible improvements. In the first paragraph some of the information given is a little repetitive because she makes her point but then has a quote afterwards saying the same thing. I also noticed that in the second paragraph some of Sarah's points are vague and could use some elaboration. Overall, Sarah wrote an great review that not only informed me of the decrease in the honey bee population but explained how vital bees are to the ecosystem and why we should help them.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading Sarah's review on the article “honeybees’ Mysterious Die-off appears to worsen.” I enjoyed reading her paper about a very bad issue which I was previously not concerned about. This was just one of the reasons why I enjoyed reading her article. The second reason I enjoyed it was because she included many expert opinions in her review as well, which heightened her argument. Finally, I enjoyed how she kept it short and made it easy to understand as a reader. Although, there was much good there was also some aspects that need to be improved here as well. The first thing I noticed was the repetition in the first paragraph, she kept on reinforcing the same thing too many times, which made it a little bit boring to read. Secondly, in the second paragraph she could have added more detail to make it pop a bit more. Overall, she did a very good job writing a review on the article "Honeybees’ Mysterious Die-Off Appears to Worsen." and it made me concerned about the bees as well.
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