Are Honey Bees Endangered?

 Some scientists claim that honey bees are becoming endangered, and as we all know, if the bees become extinct, humanity will also come to an end after a short while. They argue that the extreme use of insecticides caused honey bees to become endangered. Agriculture itself started suffering as the bee population is decreasing according to these experts. There are so many organizations dedicated to “saving the bees”, and they are mostly blaming farmers and seeing them as the major reasons of bee loss. Although this situation has been causing panic for some time, the news stories haven’t been all as they seem. The reality is that there are actually eight species of bees that are placed on the endangered list. These are some species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees and the Rusty patched bumble-bee. Honey bees are not yet on the endangered list. The bees that are becoming endangered are on the list due to habitat loss, natural disasters and invasive species on these lands. Although honey bee is not on the endangered list, there are still speculations and the impressions that they soon will go extinct. The blame is often placed on the agriculture industry. On the other hand, an extensive analysis done by The Washington Post and published in 2017 show bee numbers sitting at a 20-year high. The research showed that since 2006, the number of honey bee colonies has risen, from 2.4 million that year to 2.7 million in 2014. While some loss in honey bee population is expected during the winter months, The Washington Post’ report claims that the rate of loss among honey bee colonies reached its lowest point in years. So either ways, people are afraid of losing honey bees since their lives highly depend on their existence, and that makes them suspicious about the honey bee population which has divided the scientists and the rest of the world into two parts. Are they becoming extinct or not?