Marla Spivak: Why bees are disappearing

Translator: Changbin Lin Reviewer: Bighead Ge

This is our life with bees,

有蜂嘅日子係咁

and this is our life without bees.

無蜂嘅日子就會變成咁

Bees are the most important pollinators

蜂係最重要嘅傳粉者

of our fruits and vegetables and flowers

幫水果、蔬菜、花卉同農作物

and crops like alfalfa hay that feed our farm animals.

例如餵家畜嘅紫花乾草

傳花粉

More than one third of the world's crop production

超過三分一嘅世界農作物 需要靠蜂傳播花粉

is dependent on bee pollination.

But the ironic thing is that bees are not out there

諷刺嘅係

蜂無專登為人類糧食傳播花粉

pollinating our food intentionally.

They're out there because they need to eat.

佢地之所以出動，係因為要搵食

Bees get all of the protein they need in their diet

花粉可以為蜂提供所有嘅蛋白質

from pollen

and all of the carbohydrates they need from nectar.

而花蜜就完全俾到佢哋 所需嘅碳水化合物

They're flower-feeders,

花係佢地嘅食物

and as they move from flower to flower,

佢哋採花嘅過程 就好似喺花市買花一樣

basically on a shopping trip at the local floral mart,

they end up providing this valuable pollination service.

逛緊嗰陣，仲做埋有值錢嘅傳粉服務

In parts of the world where there are no bees,

喺無蜂嘅地方

or where they plant varieties that are not attractive to bees,

或者無植物啱蜂心水嘅地方

people are paid to do the business of pollination by hand.

只能夠俾錢請人做人工授粉

These people are moving pollen from flower to flower

授粉需要工人用板刷，逐棵花刷

with a paintbrush.

Now this business of hand pollination

人工授粉行業，依家其實好普遍

is actually not that uncommon.

Tomato growers often pollinate their tomato flowers

番茄果農成日用手提震動器

with a hand-held vibrator.

去幫茄花傳粉

Now this one's the tomato tickler. (Laughter)

呢個就喺番茄搔癢器

（笑聲）

Now this is because the pollen within a tomato flower

用佢嘅原因係因為

茄花嘅花粉埋喺花嘅深處

is held very securely within

the male part of the flower, the anther,

雄蕊入邊，即係花粉囊邊

and the only way to release this pollen is to vibrate it.

唯一將佢整出嚟嘅方法 就係震動花粉囊

So bumblebees are one of the few kinds of bees in the world

世上只有幾種蜂可以幫茄花傳粉

that are able to hold onto the flower and vibrate it,

熊蜂係其中一種

and they do this by shaking their flight muscles

佢地可以抓住朵花，顫動飛行肌

at a frequency similar to the musical note C.

發出類似 C 音頻率嘅聲波

So they vibrate the flower, they sonicate it,

咁樣，透過將花震動，將花粉震出嚟

and that releases the pollen in this efficient swoosh,

and the pollen gathers all over the fuzzy bee's body,

黐喺毛茸茸嘅熊蜂身上

and she takes it home as food.

然後熊蜂帶返屋企開餐

Tomato growers now put bumblebee colonies

依家，茄農將熊蜂竇放喺溫室入邊

inside the greenhouse to pollinate the tomatoes

because they get much more efficient pollination

用佢哋幫番茄傳粉

when it's done naturally

咁樣傳粉有效率又自然

and they get better quality tomatoes.

番茄品質又更加好

So there's other, maybe more personal reasons,

所以，我哋有更多理由去關注蜂群

to care about bees.

There's over 20,000 species of bees in the world,

世界上，有超過兩萬種蜂

and they're absolutely gorgeous.

呢樣嘢絕對係了不起

These bees spend the majority of their life cycle

呢啲蜂大半生喺地底 或者中空嘅植物莖部生活

hidden in the ground or within a hollow stem

and very few of these beautiful species

只有極少數好似蜜蜂咁

have evolved highly social behavior like honeybees.

進化出高度嘅社會行為

Now honeybees tend to be the charismatic representative

依家，蜜蜂係 其他一萬九千幾種蜂嘅代表

for the other 19,900-plus species

because there's something about honeybees

蜜蜂確實有佢哋引人注目嘅魅力

that draws people into their world.

Humans have been drawn to honeybees

自從有歷史文獻開始

since early recorded history,

人類就已經留意蜜蜂

mostly to harvest their honey,

主要因為可以 喺佢哋身上提取到蜂蜜

which is an amazing natural sweetener.

蜂蜜係天然嘅甜味劑

I got drawn into the honeybee world

而我對蜜蜂產生興趣完全係意外

completely by a fluke.

I was 18 years old and bored,

當時我 18 歲，覺得好無聊

and I picked up a book in the library on bees

喺圖書館睇到一本關於蜂類嘅書

and I spent the night reading it.

嗰晚，我睇咗本書

I had never thought about insects

之前我從未諗過

昆蟲可以有咁複雜嘅社會組織

living in complex societies.

It was like the best of science fiction come true.

就好似一本超精彩科幻小說嘅真實版

And even stranger, there were these people,

更離奇嘅係

有班養蜂人佢哋好錫自己啲蜂

these beekeepers, that loved their bees like they were family,

就好似屋企人一樣

and when I put down the book, I knew I had to see this for myself.

當我讀完本書，我決定要親身去睇

So I went to work for a commercial beekeeper,

於是，我去咗幫一個養蜂商人打工

a family that owned 2,000 hives of bees in New Mexico.

佢成家喺新墨西哥州，擁有兩千個蜂巢

And I was permanently hooked.

從此，我同蜜蜂結下不解之緣

Honeybees can be considered a super-organism,

蜜蜂唔單止係生物

where the colony is the organism

每一個蜂群仲係一個個體

and it's comprised of 40,000 to 50,000

每個蜂群通常由四到五萬隻蜜蜂組成

individual bee organisms.

Now this society has no central authority.

但個體冇首領，無人話事

Nobody's in charge.

So how they come to collective decisions,

佢哋點樣行集體決定

and how they allocate their tasks and divide their labor,

點樣分配任務同勞工

how they communicate where the flowers are,

點樣傳達採花地點嘅信息

all of their collective social behaviors are mindblowing.

佢哋所有社會行為都令人興奮不已

My personal favorite, and one that I've studied for many years,

我用咗好多年研究自己 最鍾意嘅蜂群保健系統

is their system of healthcare.

So bees have social healthcare.

無錯，蜜蜂都有保健

So in my lab, we study how bees keep themselves healthy.

我嘅實驗室研究蜜蜂點樣維持健康

For example, we study hygiene,

例如，我哋研究衛生學

where some bees are able to locate and weed out

發現蜜蜂可以搵到同分開 蜂巢裏邊有病嘅成員

sick individuals from the nest, from the colony,

and it keeps the colony healthy.

確保蜂群健康

And more recently, we've been studying resins

最近，我哋研究緊 蜜蜂喺植物度收集返來嘅樹脂

that bees collect from plants.

So bees fly to some plants and they scrape

蜜蜂會喺某啲樹嘅樹葉度

刮出癡蠟蠟嘅樹脂

these very, very sticky resins off the leaves,

and they take them back to the nest

然後帶返蜂巢

where they cement them into the nest architecture

鋪落個巢度

where we call it propolis.

我哋叫佢做蜂膠

We've found that propolis is a natural disinfectant.

大家都知道蜂膠係一種天然殺菌劑

It's a natural antibiotic.

又係天然抗生素

It kills off bacteria and molds and other germs

佢可以將蜂群入邊嘅細菌、霉菌

within the colony,

仲有其他病菌殺死

and so it bolsters the colony health and their social immunity.

確保蜂群健康，增強群體免疫力

Humans have known about the power of propolis

人類自從聖經年代

since biblical times.

就已經知道蜂膠嘅效用

We've been harvesting propolis out of bee colonies

我哋一直採集蜂巢入邊嘅蜂膠做藥物

for human medicine,

but we didn't know how good it was for the bees.

但從來唔知蜂膠對蜂群有幾重要

So honeybees have these remarkable natural defenses

蜜蜂憑藉呢種出色嘅天然防禦物

that have kept them healthy and thriving

健康繁盛咗超過五千萬年

for over 50 million years.

So seven years ago, when honeybee colonies

直到七年前

美國首次報導有大量蜂群死亡

were reported to be dying en masse,

first in the United States,

it was clear that there was something really, really wrong.

我就知道發生咗好大問題

In our collective conscience, in a really primal way,

好簡單，從我哋嘅認知

we know we can't afford to lose bees.

我哋知道人類 承受唔到冇蜜蜂嘅後果

So what's going on?

咁究竟發生咗咩一回事？

Bees are dying from multiple and interacting causes,

蜜蜂死於多種互相影響嘅因素

and I'll go through each of these.

陣間我會逐一講解

The bottom line is,

重點係蜜蜂死亡 反映咗個環境無花

bees dying reflects a flowerless landscape

and a dysfunctional food system.

同埋食物系統運作有問題

Now we have the best data on honeybees,

我會攞我哋宜家 最好嘅蜜蜂數據做例子︰

so I'll use them as an example.

In the United States, bees in fact have been

美國嘅蜜蜂數量 由二戰之後就一直減少

in decline since World War II.

We have half the number of managed hives

對比 1945 年

美國現時嘅蜂箱數量只剩返一半

in the United States now compared to 1945.

We're down to about two million hives of bees, we think.

我哋估計剩返二百萬個蜂箱

And the reason is, after World War II,

原因係，二戰之後我哋改變耕種方式

we changed our farming practices.

We stopped planting cover crops.

唔再種「遮蓋作物」

We stopped planting clover and alfalfa,

好似三葉草同苜蓿咁

which are natural fertilizers that fix nitrogen in the soil,

佢哋都係天然嘅土壤固氮肥料

and instead we started using synthetic fertilizers.

但係宜家大家都用化肥代替

Clover and alfalfa are highly nutritious food plants for bees.

三葉草同苜蓿都係蜂類嘅高級營養品

And after World War II, we started using herbicides

二戰後，我哋開始 用除草劑清理田間雜草

to kill off the weeds in our farms.

Many of these weeds are flowering plants

但好多雜草都係開花植物

that bees require for their survival.

蜂要靠佢哋維生

And we started growing larger and larger crop monocultures.

同時，單一作物嘅種植規模越來越大

Now we talk about food deserts,

我哋宜家講「食物荒漠」

places in our cities, neighborhoods that have no grocery stores.

正係指城市裏邊、社區附近 買唔到多款食物

The very farms that used to sustain bees

蜂類以前覓食嘅農田

are now agricultural food deserts,

今日變咗「食物荒漠」

dominated by one or two plant species

得返一兩種農作物喺度大量種植

like corn and soybeans.

好似粟米同大豆咁

Since World War II, we have been systematically

自從二戰之後，我哋一直喺度有系統

eliminating many of the flowering plants

剷除好多蜂類賴以為生嘅開花植物

that bees need for their survival.

And these monocultures extend even to crops

單一大規模種植甚至包括杏仁

that are good for bees, like almonds.

呢啲對蜂類有益嘅植物

Fifty years ago, beekeepers would take a few colonies,

50 年前，養蜂人會將 一啲蜂巢擺喺杏仁果園

hives of bees into the almond orchards, for pollination,

用嚟傳播杏仁花粉

and also because the pollen in an almond blossom

亦都因為杏仁花粉有好多蛋白質

is really high in protein. It's really good for bees.

對蜂類好有益

Now, the scale of almond monoculture

依家，杏仁嘅種植規模

demands that most of our nation's bees,

大到需要動用全國大部份嘅蜂嚟幫手

over 1.5 million hives of bees,

超過一百五十萬個蜂箱 需要千里迢迢咁運

be transported across the nation

to pollinate this one crop.

就係為咗幫杏仁傳花粉

And they're trucked in in semi-loads,

蜂巢用貨車運去

and they must be trucked out,

之後又要用貨車運走

because after bloom, the almond orchards

因為花期過後

成個果園就係一個無花嘅世界

are a vast and flowerless landscape.

Bees have been dying over the last 50 years,

蜂類喺過去五十年間不斷減少

and we're planting more crops that need them.

但需要佢哋傳粉嘅農作物 數量一直增加緊

There has been a 300 percent increase in crop production

增幅達到三倍

that requires bee pollination.

And then there's pesticides.

跟住講下殺蟲劑

After World War II, we started using pesticides

二戰之後，單一種植引發蟲害氾濫

on a large scale, and this became necessary

because of the monocultures that put out a feast

以致必須大規模 用殺蟲劑嚟控制蟲害

for crop pests.

Recently, researchers from Penn State University

最近，賓夕法尼亞州立大學嘅研究人員

have started looking at the pesticide residue

對蜜蜂帶返巢嘅花粉 量度殺蟲劑殘留量

in the loads of pollen that bees carry home as food,

and they've found that every batch of pollen

發現每一批蜜蜂收集嘅花粉

that a honeybee collects

has at least six detectable pesticides in it,

都起碼有六種農藥

and this includes every class of insecticides,

包括各類殺蟲劑、除草劑、殺菌劑

herbicides, fungicides,

and even inert and unlabeled ingredients

甚至包括無標示嘅佐劑

that are part of the pesticide formulation

佐劑係殺蟲配方嘅成份

that can be more toxic than the active ingredient.

毒性分分鐘比活躍成份勁

This small bee is holding up a large mirror.

蜜蜂令我哋問︰

How much is it going to take to contaminate humans?

農藥幾時會毒害到人體？

One of these class of insecticides,

其中一類殺蟲劑叫敵敵畏

the neonicontinoids,

is making headlines around the world right now.

全世界新聞都講緊佢

You've probably heard about it.

你可能都聽過

This is a new class of insecticides.

佢係新型殺蟲劑

It moves through the plant so that a crop pest,

植物吸收咗佢之後

只要食葉嘅昆蟲咬植物塊葉一啖

a leaf-eating insect,

would take a bite of the plant

and get a lethal dose and die.

就足以致命

If one of these neonics, we call them,

如果任何一種敵敵畏高濃度咁用

is applied in a high concentration,

such as in this ground application,

就會好似頭先講到咁

enough of the compound moves through the plant

當足夠劑量嘅敵敵畏 去到植物嘅花粉同花蜜

and gets into the pollen and the nectar,

where a bee can consume, in this case,

而蜜蜂食用嘅話

a high dose of this neurotoxin

高劑量嘅神經毒素會令蜜蜂抽搐同死亡

that makes the bee twitch and die.

In most agricultural settings, on most of our farms,

美國大多數農場裏邊

it's only the seed that's coated with the insecticide,

只有種子會噴咗殺蟲劑

and so a smaller concentration moves through the plant

所以植物嘅殺蟲劑濃度都會低啲

and gets into the pollen and nectar,

花粉同花蜜嘅殺蟲劑都冇咁多

and if a bee consumes this lower dose,

蜜蜂如果攝取咁少嘅殺蟲劑

either nothing happens

佢一係無事

or the bee becomes intoxicated and disoriented

一係因為中毒而簜失路，返唔到屋企

and she may not find her way home.

And on top of everything else, bees have

除此之外，蜂都有自己嘅病同寄生蟲

their own set of diseases and parasites.

Public enemy number one for bees is this thing.

佢哋頭號敵人係狄氏瓦蟎

It's called varroa destructor.

It's aptly named.

呢個名好啱佢

It's this big, blood-sucking parasite

因為狄氏瓦蟎係 一種體型大嘅吸血寄生蟲

that compromises the bee's immune system

會削弱蜂嘅免疫系統，同時傳播病毒

and circulates viruses.

Let me put this all together for you.

等我將蜂嘅困難總結一下

I don't know what it feels like to a bee

我唔知一隻被大隻吸血蟲 躝住全身嘅蜂會有咩感覺

to have a big, bloodsucking parasite running around on it,

and I don't know what it feels like to a bee to have a virus,

亦唔知佢感染咗病毒嘅感覺

but I do know what it feels like when I have a virus, the flu,

我凈係知自己有流感嗰時

and I know how difficult it is for me to get

連去士多買嘢食，補充營養嘅力都無

to the grocery store to get good nutrition.

But what if I lived in a food desert?

更何況，我仲身處「食物荒漠」？

And what if I had to travel a long distance

我仲要行好遠嘅路先去到士多

to get to the grocery store,

and I finally got my weak body out there

去到嗰時，我買嘢食

and I consumed, in my food,

但點知食物裏面有殺蟲劑同神經毒素

enough of a pesticide, a neurotoxin,

that I couldn't find my way home?

令我搵唔到返屋企嘅路

And this is what we mean by multiple

以上就係我哋所講

蜂類死亡嘅多種關聯因素

and interacting causes of death.

And it's not just our honeybees.

唔止蜜蜂，所有野生蜂都喺危險邊緣

All of our beautiful wild species of bees

are at risk, including those tomato-pollinating bumblebees.

包括幫番茄傳粉嘅熊蜂

These bees are providing backup for our honeybees.

佢哋係蜜蜂嘅後援

They're providing the pollination insurance

佢哋保障花粉傳播

alongside our honeybees.

We need all of our bees.

所以，我哋需要各種蜂

So what are we going to do?

咁要點做？

What are we going to do about this big bee bummer

我哋為蜂類整咗咁大麻煩

that we've created?

點先可以補到鑊？

It turns out, it's hopeful. It's hopeful.

原來仲有希望

Every one of you out there can help bees

有兩個簡單直接嘅辦法可以幫到佢哋

in two very direct and easy ways.

Plant bee-friendly flowers,

首先，種蜂鍾意嘅花

and don't contaminate these flowers,

唔好用殺蟲劑

this bee food, with pesticides.

唔好污染啲花

So go online and search for flowers

喺網上查你住緊地方嘅本地花卉品種

that are native to your area and plant them.

Plant them in a pot on your doorstep.

然後將佢哋種喺門口嘅花盤、前院

Plant them in your front yard, in your lawns,

in your boulevards.

草地同馬路旁邊

Campaign to have them planted in public gardens,

喺公園、社區空間同公眾草坪

community spaces, meadows.

舉辦種花活動

Set aside farmland.

唔講農田，我哋要種唔同品種嘅花

We need a beautiful diversity of flowers

that blooms over the entire growing season,

令成個生長季節，春天到秋天都有花開

from spring to fall.

We need roadsides seeded in flowers for our bees,

馬路兩邊都需要為種花

but also for migrating butterflies and birds

唔止為咗蜜蜂

仲為咗遷徙中嘅蝴蝶、候鳥

and other wildlife.

同其他野生動物而種

And we need to think carefully about putting back in

亦都係時候認真諗下 重新種返「遮蓋植物」

cover crops to nourish our soil

令土地增肥之餘

and nourish our bees.

又可以養肥蜜蜂

And we need to diversify our farms.

農場都需要多樣化種植

We need to plant flowering crop borders and hedge rows

我哋要喺田嘅邊緣種開花農作物

同做灌木籬牆

to disrupt the agricultural food desert

咁樣可以間斷食物荒漠

and begin to correct the dysfunctional food system

而且，要開始糾正

人類一手造成嘅食物系統紊亂

that we've created.

So maybe it seems like a really small countermeasure

相比起大嘅難題

to a big, huge problem -- just go plant flowers --

種花可能只係一個小小嘅解決方法

but when bees have access to good nutrition,

但係，如果蜂類營養充足

we have access to good nutrition

佢哋就可以傳播好嘅花粉

through their pollination services.

我哋咁先可以有好嘅食物

And when bees have access to good nutrition,

而且，好營養可以鞏固 佢哋嘅天然抵抗力

they're better able to engage their own natural defenses,

their healthcare,

同蜂類賴以為生過百年嘅保健系統

that they have relied on for millions of years.

So the beauty of helping bees this way, for me,

我覺得，咁樣幫蜂類嘅好處係

is that every one of us needs to behave

每個人都可以好似 蜜蜂社會裏面嘅一隻蜂

a little bit more like a bee society, an insect society,

where each of our individual actions

團結就是力量，每個人付出少少

can contribute to a grand solution,

an emergent property,

再大嘅問題都可以解決到

that's much greater than the mere sum

of our individual actions.

So let the small act of planting flowers

所以，依家就等我哋開始種花

and keeping them free of pesticides

唔加任何農藥

be the driver of large-scale change.

一齊帶領改變呢片大地嘅顏色

On behalf of the bees, thank you.

我代表蜂類多謝你哋

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Chris Anderson: Thank you. Just a quick question.

Chris Anderson：多謝 想問一個問題

The latest numbers on the die-off of bees,

從最近蜜蜂死亡嘅數字睇

is there any sign of things bottoming out?

蜂類嘅數量有冇觸底反彈？

What's your hope/depression level on this?

你對數字樂觀定失望？

Maria Spivak: Yeah.

講者：嗯

At least in the United States,

至少喺美國

an average of 30 percent of all bee hives

平均每個冬季就冇咗三成蜂巢

are lost every winter.

About 20 years ago,

大約喺廿年前，跌幅係 15%

we were at a 15-percent loss.

So it's getting precarious.

所以，宜家處境更危急

CA: That's not 30 percent a year, that's -- MS: Yes, thirty percent a year.

- Chris Anderson：唔係三成嗎？ - 講者︰無錯係三成

CA: Thirty percent a year. MS: But then beekeepers are able to divide their colonies

Chris Anderson：係嘅三成

講者︰不過養蜂嘅人 可以將蜜蜂分到空嘅巢度

and so they can maintain the same number,

咁樣，數字就會一樣

they can recuperate some of their loss.

損失就減少咗

We're kind of at a tipping point.

但目前正係臨界點

We can't really afford to lose that many more.

蜂巢已經唔可以再少

跟著落嚟，真係好希望大家都會種花

We need to be really appreciative

of all the beekeepers out there. Plant flowers.

CA: Thank you.

(Applause)

Chris Anderson：唔該曬

（掌聲）