AGRICULTURE REPORT - Bees Keep Busy Producing More Than Just

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Bees Keep Busy Producing More Than Just Honey (Part 2 of 3)
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, December 27, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Last week we talked about how bees make honey. Yet bees also produce other useful materials.

 
USDA researcher with honeycomb of bees
Beeswax is another product, although much less of it is produced than honey. Bees need to eat about three kilograms of honey, or more, to produce less than one-half kilogram of wax¹.

The beauty industry uses a lot of beeswax as a base for skin care products. Anyone who has ever lit a candle might have lit one made of beeswax. Woodworkers mix beeswax with oils to protect wood surfaces. And leatherworkers use beeswax to protect leather from water.

There is even an old saying, "mind your own beeswax." It means "mind your own business." We never said it was a nice old saying.

The "beeswax" in this case may only be a play on the word "business." But some people do mind their beeswax. It is their business.

Beekeepers use it to make structures called foundations². Bees build hives by adding wax to the foundations. Bees keep honey, food and their young in these structures.

Most people know not to interfere³ with a busy bee. Worker bees have a sting⁴ that can inject poison. But the poison is also a valuable product. In some people, a bee sting causes their throat or tongue to swell⁵ up. This reaction can be deadly. But treatment with bee poison can sometimes help protect people who suffer these reactions.

In warmer areas of the Americas, some bees are a special concern. Years ago African bees were brought to South America to improve honey production. But they spread out of control. They mixed with populations of European honey bees raised in the Americas.

Africanized honey bees are very aggressive. They have killed animals and people. In the nineteen seventies, they became known as "killer⁶ bees." This may overstate the threat. But Africanized bees must be treated with special care.

Bees face threats of their own. In the Americas, Asia and Europe, mites⁷ can destroy hives. The tiny creatures suck the blood of bees. Wax moths⁸ are insects that eat wax in the hive. And there are bacterial⁹ diseases¹⁰ that attack and destroy young bees.

All these problems add to the cost of keeping bees. But beekeeping remains¹¹ mostly low cost and very important to agriculture. Listen next week for the final part of our report.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

1 wax   

n.蜡，蜡状物，震怒；vi.变大，增大，月亮满；vt.用蜡涂

参考例句：

• I wax my boots chiefly to waterproof them.我给靴子打蜡主要是为了防水。
• I wax the floor once a month.我每月给地板打一次蜡。

2 foundations   

n.地基

参考例句：

• The builders are now beginning to lay the foundations of the new school. 建筑工人正开始给新校舍打地基。
• The house is unsafe since the foundations were undermined by floods. 这栋房子不安全，因为地基被洪水损坏了。

3 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

4 sting   

vt.激怒，刺痛，刺伤，蛰伤；n.刺痛，刺伤

参考例句：

• Most flies do not sting.大多数苍蝇不叮人。
• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。

5 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

6 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

7 mites   

n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨

参考例句：

• The only discovered animals are water bears, mites, microscopic rotifers. 能够发现的动物只有海蜘蛛、螨和微小的轮虫。 来自辞典例句
• Mites are frequently found on eggs. 螨会经常出现在蛋上。 来自辞典例句

8 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

10 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。