新奇事件簿 解讀蜜蜂離奇失蹤案

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The disappearance of millions of bees is worrying agriculturalists in 24 states across the USA. Honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate across America. Their absence is beginning to threaten the production of crops and the livelihoods of farmers. It is a little-known fact that bees contribute around $14bn to the U.S. economy as they go about their business of pollinating flowers. The unexplained vanishing act is likely to affect the lucrative harvest of avocados, almonds and kiwi fruits, as well as numerous other fruits and vegetables. This will result in higher prices for consumers. In some states, over half of the bee populations have vanished without trace. Some beekeepers have reported losses of more than 70 per cent of their bee stocks. The phenomenon has baffled scientists, who are now as busy as bees to come up with an explanation.

美國數(shù)百萬蜜蜂消失，遍及全美24州，這一現(xiàn)象引起了農(nóng)學家擔憂。蜜蜂消失數(shù)量已達到警戒線。糧食產(chǎn)量和農(nóng)民生計遭受威脅。很多人不知道的是，蜜蜂的授粉工程為美國經(jīng)濟帶來了140億美金回報。像鱷梨、杏仁以及獼猴桃這些利益頗豐的產(chǎn)品，再加上其它水果蔬菜，都有可能受到蜜蜂離奇失蹤的影響。這必將導致物價上漲。在許多大州，超一半蜜蜂消失。許多蜂農(nóng)表示，超70%的養(yǎng)殖蜂消失。這一現(xiàn)象讓科學家困惑不解，他們正在就現(xiàn)象原因進行調(diào)查。

One U.S. beekeeper is at a loss to explain what has happened to his bees. David Bradshaw, 50, from California, told the New York Times that he had never seen anything like it in all his years of beekeeping. He estimates that half of his 100 million bees have gone. He said he has known of bees to disappear before but that this is America’s first national bee crisis. Experts have put forward several theories including a cold snap felling swarms of bees, or bee viruses resulting in what scientists are calling a “colony collapse disorder”. A further possibility is that the bees are stressed out. With the factory-like, intensive farming methods used in the USA, bees are put to work much more often than nature intended. This may have lowered their immunity to viruses and harmed the ability of queen bees to produce eggs..

一名美國蜂農(nóng)對蜜蜂消失不知所措。加州50歲蜂農(nóng)大衛(wèi)·布拉德肖在接受《紐約時報》采訪時表示，在他的養(yǎng)蜂歷史中，他從沒遇到過這種事情。據(jù)他預測，一億只蜜蜂消失了一半。他稱之前聽說過蜜蜂消失的事情，但這是美國首次遭遇全國性蜜蜂危機。專家提出了幾種可能性，包括致大量蜜蜂死亡的寒流理論，或遭遇了蜜蜂病毒，科學家將其稱之為“蜂群崩潰綜合癥”。還有一種可能是蜜蜂不堪重負。隨著集約農(nóng)業(yè)化發(fā)展，蜜蜂的工作量超過了自然所需。從而導致免疫力下降，損害了蜂后產(chǎn)卵能力。