The Italian bee (Apis mellifera ligustica) is now distributed throughout the world, except for the Arctic and Antarctic. The Chinese bee (Apis cerana) is widely distributed in China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and Southeast Asia. For China, the Italian bee is an exotic species, while the Chinese bee is a native species.

Commercialization has brought economic prosperity, but development can lead to resource depletion and ecological damage. The introduction of the Italian bee in China has brought some obvious and expected benefits but may pose a potential threat to native species and ecosystems. Therefore, when introducing exotic bee species, we need to pursue economic benefits while giving due consideration to ecological balance and long-term benefits of sustainable development. As a result, the policies of biodiversity conservation need to leave room for the conservation of the Chinese bee.

Apis Cerana. Photography by Mr. Maosheng Liu

Modern industrial civilization has wreaked havoc on our habitats in a variety of ways, and so have the bees. Industrialization has led to the promotion of superior species, such as the Italian bee, whose direct economic value is obvious (hence the preference of many local beekeepers to raise Italian bees); however, we do not have sufficient knowledge of the impact of the Italian bee, an exotic species, on the native ecosystem. We do not have enough protection for the native bees. The Italian bee can pose a great threat to the survival of the Chinese bee. If we have all types of bees in the farm, then the Italian bee could lead to a massive die-off of the Chinese bee.

Apis Cerana raised by farmers. Photography by Mrs. Linda Wong

We have found through our recent investigation and survey that the native bee species, the Chinese bee, has evolved over a long period of time in nature and its dependency, and its ecological value, cannot be replaced by the Italian bee, which is being rapidly promoted by industrial civilization.

We should take one step further from the perspective of environmental protection. The changes caused by industrial civilization upon the ecosystem, including the promotion of good breeds and the negative impact on the greenery, deserve our attention. We need to study this carefully.

In the context of industrial civilization, the soil is also in danger. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has led to radical changes in the condition of the soil, including the number of earthworms that inhabit in it and the number and variety of soil microorganisms. These changes will be a catastrophe for the entire ecosystem. The earthworm mentioned above is just one example. Soil is an important carrier of biodiversity and soil ecosystems maintain a rich biodiversity; however, the agricultural practices of industrial civilization, with its extensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, have produced radical changes to the composition of soil and the damage to the biodiversity in soil ecosystems cannot be ignored. This can upset the ecological balance and have a negative impact on the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem.

Chinese bee breeding at Tongbai Mountain. Photograph by Mr. Hongcheng Liu

This is the reason why the impact of industrial civilization has led to widespread and dramatic changes in the way we produce and live, and the impact of these changes on nature will increasingly affect our survival and sustainable development in ways that we do not want to see.

Original Chinese Article:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9NnZK9_XwJNK6KN0ciaIBg

Translator: Victor

Checked by Victoria

Editor: Victor

Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

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