VOA常速英语2014--Biologist Creates Portrait Gallery of North American Bees 生物学家绘制北美蜜蜂精美肖像画（在线收听）

Biologist Creates Portrait Gallery of North American Bees 生物学家绘制北美蜜蜂精美肖像画

While the collapse of honey bee colonies in North America is still an unsolved mystery, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey is trying to preserve the memory of thousands of varieties of pollinating insects, some of which may become extinct.

A mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder is devastating honeybee populations all over the world.

一种被称为蜂群崩溃综合症的神秘现象正在对世界各地的蜜蜂种群造成群毁灭性打击。

Conservationists say some of North America's 4,000 bee species could be wiped out.

自然资源保护者表示北美4000种蜜蜂可能被彻底灭绝。

Rutgers University researcher Rachael Winfree said honeybees are not the only pollinators in danger.

罗格斯大学研究人员瑞切尔·温弗雷称蜜蜂种群中不仅仅是传粉者处于危险之中。

“What we found is that the native wild insects are doing about a half of the flower visitation,” she said.

“我们发现本地野生昆虫的采花量只有一半,”她说道。

蜜蜂.jpg

A scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Sam Droege, said bees are too beautiful to be forgotten if they vanish forever.

美国地质调查局科学家山姆·多格称如果蜜蜂永远消失的话，太过漂亮的它们将无法被遗忘。

So, with the help of a lab technician, he is making full color portraits of them.

因此在实验室技术员的帮助下,他正在绘制蜜蜂的全彩画像。

“When you look at our native species,

“当你观察我们的本地物种,

you are talking metallic colors,

你所看到的是金属的颜色,

metallic greens, blues, blacks with heavy pitting, some are highly armored, some are red,” he said.

金属绿色、蓝色,重点蚀黑色,一些好似穿上了装甲,而一些则是红色的,”他说。

Droege is photographing not only the domesticated honeybees,

多格不仅拍摄家养蜜蜂,

but also many of the wild species that pollinate crops.

还有许多授粉作物的野生品种。

He collects some of the specimens himself,

他自己收集一些标本,

while others are sent to him by government agencies, researchers and institutions across the country.

而政府机构、研究人员及在全国各地机构也会将其他标本送到他手上。

Before their photo session, the bees must be washed and dried.

在拍摄照片之前,蜜蜂必须经过洗净晾干处理。

Droege positions them in a special white box that bounces the light, leaving no shadows.

多格将它们放置在一个反射光线,不留阴影的特殊白盒子当中。

The photographs, taken from multiple angles, are merged by a computer program into a single beautiful picture.

从多个角度拍摄的照片最后经由计算机程序合成最终变成一幅美丽的画面。

Droege said his work has two components.

多格表示他的工作有两个组成部分。

“One component is simply scientific,

“其中之一仅仅涉及科学,

so that it illustrates our identification guide, which are very technical and can only be seen by a small number of people.

它描绘了我们的身份证明指南,这方面技术性很强,一小部分人才能看懂。

But the other aspect is sort of a vehicle for talking and illustrating all the beauty.”

但是另一方面则是通过拍摄工具描绘出所有的美丽。”

Droege said the detailed photos will help researchers by saving them time and preventing identification errors.

多格表示细节详尽的照片将帮助研究人员节省时间及防止鉴别错误。

Some of the pictures are available at the U.S. Geological Survey website.

而其中一些照片会刊登在美国地质调查局网站中。