VOA新闻杂志2022--气候干燥导致智利蜜蜂大量死亡

Dry Conditions, Poisons Killing¹ Chile’s Bees

The South American nation of Chile has been experiencing a severe drought for the last 13 years. This extreme lack of water has led to fewer flowers and, as a result, fewer honeybees.

Poisonous chemicals used to kill insects harmful to crops, called pesticides³, also hurt bees.

Beekeepers in Chile are concerned. Carlos Peralta and his brother Marco are beekeepers. In the central Chilean town of Colina, Carlos has seen the number of his honeybees decrease sharply.

He said he has lost about 300 hives since the start of November 2021. A hive can hold tens of thousands of bees. Losing so many bees left Peralta with a difficult choice. He could keep his remaining 900 hives alive with manufactured nectar, or he could move the hives to a place where there are more flowers.

"If the bees die, we all die...The bee is life," Carlos said. He was describing the important job that bees have: to pollinate plants in the wild and for food growers. As a major exporter of fruit, successful pollination⁴ of fruit trees is important for Chile.

So Carlos decided⁵ to move his beehives about 1,000 kilometers to the south, to a place called Puerto Montt. However, his brother Marco chose to stay in Colina with his bees rather than join Carlos in the south. Marco said he feared losing bees to pesticides if he moved.

A expert on biodiversity for Latin America in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (or FAO) is Andrés González.

He identified four problems that are reducing populations of pollinating insects:

the use of pesticides and fertilizers

the growing of only one crop in an area

droughts caused partly by climate change

and poor use of water

These problems, in addition to parasites⁷, have hurt bee populations around the world.

An FAO study in 2018 found that Chile's imports of pesticides had grown by 460 percent over the previous 20 years. Beekeepers blame this increase for their losses. Chile's honey exports have dropped over the past four to five years.

Carlos Peralta said, "You enter an orchard⁸ with your bees and you don't know if you'll come out with living bees or dead ones.

His brother Marco has been feeding his bees with sugary water and other nutrients⁹. However, this substitute for nectar leaves the bees unable to produce honey.

"The bees grow weak (with sugar water)...," said Mario Flores. He is a beekeeper in the southern town of Temuco.

Teresa Sarmiento is president of a beekeepers association in Colina. She compared feeding bees sugar water to "giving a sweet to a hungry child."

Before the drought, beekeepers would use the substitute food during the winter months. But now they use it almost all year.

González of the FAO said the substitute food lacks protein the bees need to develop their bodies and nervous systems. It also leaves them at more risk of disease.

Words in This Story

drought –n. an extreme lack of water in a place

pesticide² –n. a chemical that is used to kill animals or insects that damage plants or crops

hive –n. a nest for bees

nectar –n. a sweet liquid produced by plants and used by bees in making honey

pollinate –v. to give a plant pollen¹⁰, reproductive material, from another plant of the same kind so that seeds and fruit will be produced

parasite⁶ –n. an animal or plant that lives in or on another animal or plant and gets food or protection from it

orchard –n. a farm where people grow fruit trees

biodiversity –n. the existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

3 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pollination   

n.授粉

参考例句：

• The flowers get pollination by insects.这些花通过昆虫授粉。
• Without sufficient pollination,the growth of the corn is stunted.没有得到充足的授粉，谷物的长势就会受阻。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

7 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

8 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

9 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。