First assignment of group n° 047
Resources used by the team[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
First description of our project[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
We are currently losing bees at an alarming rate. The issue is that they are critical pollinators. Without them we can lose all the plants that bees pollinate as well as all the animals that eat those plants. It would be harder to support the need of 7 billion human being. How can we face this issue in a sustainable and ecological way ?'
Project Title : Saving humanity by saving bees
1. What Problem do you want to solve ?
One of the fondation of humanity is the bee population. One human meal out of three is made possible thanks to the bees. Without them and their pollinating action thousand of plants would die and people would starving in the following years. Einstein said that « If honey bees die out, human will follow a few years later ». Honeybees also have a huge economic impact. Their value is estimate around $265 billion a year. If all bee die, a lote of plants would stop existing or their would be a mass decrease in productivity. The food chain would be impacted and the production of milk and meat would also decrease significantly. Our food system would be no longer viable and an important part of the human population would starve to death. In 1988 their were around 5 millions bees around the world but nowadays their is only 2,5 millions bees left. Moreover, since 2006 bees suffer from colony collapse disorder which led to the desperation of many bee colonies. The problem we want to solve is the decrease in the bee population because our food production would no longer be sustainable and human being would die.
2. Why does this problem exist?
For a few years now, our planet has been confronted to a concerning problem: the disappearance of bees. At first, no one knew why but since a couple of years some scientists realized that the disappearance of the bees was due to some parasites like the Varroa, Acarapis woodi, and the American foulbrood viruses. The Varroa destructor parasite will reproduce in honey bees’ colonies. It sticks on the bees’ body and sucks its hemolymph, reducing bees’ strength until their death. There is also the Acarapis woodi, which is the bee tracheal virus. This mite targets young honey bees and penetrates in their tracheal tubes, avoiding bees to breath. Those parasites come with the American Foulbrood which is a destructive and contagious illness. Three days old larvae become infected by ingesting germs that are present in their food. When spores evolute in the gut of the larva, the vegetative form grows. After this, infected larvae normally die. As all these viruses are contagious, they will spread and will kill the whole bee colonies, usually that occurs in spring. These parasites have got a catastrophic economic consequences on the beekeeping industry.
3. What breakthrough are you commited to creating?
We hope reduce the bees mortality about 40% in 10 years to sensibilise beekeepers to do more often analyzes of their bees.
Potential expert : Monsieur Henry Duchemin, founder of "Mélilot Consulting".
