and this is our life without bees.

如果沒有牠們，生活會是這樣!

Bees are the most important pollinators

對蔬果花卉而言

of our fruits and vegetables and flowers

蜜蜂是最重要的授粉者

and crops like alfalfa hay that feed our farm animals.

受惠的還有苜蓿等牲畜賴以為生的飼料作物

More than one third of the world's crop production

三分之一以上的全球作物產量

is dependent on bee pollination.

有賴蜜蜂授粉

But the ironic thing is that bees are not out there

但與我們所想的不同

pollinating our food intentionally.

蜜蜂是無意間幫糧食作物授粉的

They're out there because they need to eat.

他們飛出來是為了覓食

Bees get all of the protein they need in their diet

蜜蜂飲食中所需的蛋白質

from pollen

全來自花粉

and all of the carbohydrates they need from nectar.

而碳水化合物則由花蜜供給

They're flower-feeders,

他們以花為食

and as they move from flower to flower,

從這朵飛到到那朵

basically on a shopping trip at the local floral mart,

他們就像在當地花市購物一樣

they end up providing this valuable pollination service.

結果無意間促成授粉

In parts of the world where there are no bees,

但有些地方沒有蜜蜂

or where they plant varieties that are not attractive to bees,

或植物多樣性不足吸引蜜蜂

people are paid to do the business of pollination by hand.

便必須花錢請人來幫忙授粉

These people are moving pollen from flower to flower

這些人正做著傳粉的工作

with a paintbrush.

但用的是筆刷

Now this business of hand pollination

目前手工授粉的工作

is actually not that uncommon.

其實不算罕見

Tomato growers often pollinate their tomato flowers

番茄農常用手持振動器

with a hand-held vibrator.

替番茄花授粉

Now this one's the tomato tickler. (Laughter)

這就是番茄搔癢器

Now this is because the pollen within a tomato flower

之所以必須動用這種器材

is held very securely within

是因為番茄的花粉

the male part of the flower, the anther,

深藏在雄蕊的花藥中

and the only way to release this pollen is to vibrate it.

要振動才能釋放花粉

So bumblebees are one of the few kinds of bees in the world

少數能抓牢並搖動番茄花的蜂種當中

that are able to hold onto the flower and vibrate it,

熊蜂是其中之一

and they do this by shaking their flight muscles

牠們以近似Do音的頻率(約256 Hz)

at a frequency similar to the musical note C.

抖動控制飛行的肌肉群

So they vibrate the flower, they sonicate it,

以音波振動花朵

and that releases the pollen in this efficient swoosh,

花粉就在俐落的嗖嗖聲中釋放

and the pollen gathers all over the fuzzy bee's body,

毛茸茸的熊蜂因此滿身花粉

and she takes it home as food.

得以將食物帶回家

Tomato growers now put bumblebee colonies

因此番茄農在溫室養熊蜂

inside the greenhouse to pollinate the tomatoes

替番茄授粉

because they get much more efficient pollination

因為順其自然的方式

when it's done naturally

授粉效率高很多

and they get better quality tomatoes.

且番茄的品質也較好

So there's other, maybe more personal reasons,

所以其他因素或個人考量

to care about bees.

都讓人們有理由關切蜜蜂

There's over 20,000 species of bees in the world,

共有兩萬多的蜂種遍布全世界

and they're absolutely gorgeous.

他們美極了

These bees spend the majority of their life cycle

這些蜂的大半生

hidden in the ground or within a hollow stem

多蟄居地底或空心的莖稈內

and very few of these beautiful species

這些美妙的蜂種中，只有少數

have evolved highly social behavior like honeybees.

像蜜蜂一樣演化出高度的社會行為

Now honeybees tend to be the charismatic representative

深具魅力的蜜蜂常被視為

for the other 19,900-plus species

其他一萬九千九百多種蜂的代表

because there's something about honeybees

因為牠們有一種特質

that draws people into their world.

吸引人們去了解牠們

Humans have been drawn to honeybees

人類受蜜蜂吸引的歷史

since early recorded history,

可追朔到史料紀載之初

mostly to harvest their honey,

主要是為了採集蜂蜜

which is an amazing natural sweetener.

這種奇妙的天然甘味劑

I got drawn into the honeybee world

而我沉迷其中

completely by a fluke.

則完全是無心插柳

I was 18 years old and bored,

那時我18歲，生活有些乏味

and I picked up a book in the library on bees

就在圖書館選了一本關於密蜂的書

and I spent the night reading it.

然後花一整夜閱讀

I had never thought about insects

在那之前我從不知道

living in complex societies.

昆蟲有複雜的社會結構

It was like the best of science fiction come true.

簡直就像暢銷科幻小說的翻版

And even stranger, there were these people,

更奇怪的是有一群人

these beekeepers, that loved their bees like they were family,

一群愛蜂如親的養蜂人

and when I put down the book, I knew I had to see this for myself.

當我讀完那本書，我覺得非得親眼看看不可

So I went to work for a commercial beekeeper,

所以我到一家專業蜂場工作

a family that owned 2,000 hives of bees in New Mexico.

業主一家在新墨西哥州有2千個蜂箱

And I was permanently hooked.

我從此無法自拔

Honeybees can be considered a super-organism,

蜜蜂群可說是一種超級社會組織

where the colony is the organism

群體本身就是這個組織

and it's comprised of 40,000 to 50,000

由4到5萬隻

individual bee organisms.

單獨個體組成

Now this society has no central authority.

蜜蜂的社會組織沒有最高權威

Nobody's in charge.

個體間都是平等的

So how they come to collective decisions,

牠們是怎麼達成集體決策?

and how they allocate their tasks and divide their labor,

怎麼分配任務和分工?

how they communicate where the flowers are,

還有牠們如何傳達花的位置?

all of their collective social behaviors are mindblowing.

牠們的種種集體社會行為都令人驚嘆

My personal favorite, and one that I've studied for many years,

我個人的最愛，也是我研究多年的部分

is their system of healthcare.

是他們的醫療保健系統

So bees have social healthcare.

沒錯，蜜蜂有社會保健制度!

So in my lab, we study how bees keep themselves healthy.

我的實驗室研究蜜蜂怎麼保持健康

For example, we study hygiene,

例如我們研究衛生

where some bees are able to locate and weed out

有些蜜蜂能夠找出病號

sick individuals from the nest, from the colony,

把牠們趕出蜂巢和蜂群

and it keeps the colony healthy.

藉此維持群體健康

And more recently, we've been studying resins

最近我們研究樹脂

that bees collect from plants.

蜜蜂從植物採集樹脂

So bees fly to some plants and they scrape

牠們飛到某些植物上

these very, very sticky resins off the leaves,

把樹葉上粘稠的樹脂刮下來

and they take them back to the nest

然後帶回蜂巢

where they cement them into the nest architecture

用來構築蜂巢結構

where we call it propolis.

就是我們所謂的蜂膠

We've found that propolis is a natural disinfectant.

蜂膠已證實是天然的殺菌劑

It's a natural antibiotic.

是天然的抗生素

It kills off bacteria and molds and other germs

能殺死細菌、黴菌

within the colony,

以及蜂群裡的其他病菌

and so it bolsters the colony health and their social immunity.

所以蜂膠改善了群體健康和免疫力

Humans have known about the power of propolis

人類從聖經時代

since biblical times.

就已知箇中奧妙

We've been harvesting propolis out of bee colonies

為了醫藥用途從蜂窩採集蜂膠

for human medicine,

由來已久

but we didn't know how good it was for the bees.

但過去我們不知道它對蜜蜂有多大好處

So honeybees have these remarkable natural defenses

蜜蜂以這些非凡的天然防禦機制

that have kept them healthy and thriving

保持族群健康興旺

for over 50 million years.

已有五千多萬年的時間

So seven years ago, when honeybee colonies

所以七年前

were reported to be dying en masse,

美國開始傳出

first in the United States,

有關蜂群大量死亡的報導

it was clear that there was something really, really wrong.

情況明顯不妙

In our collective conscience, in a really primal way,

若本能地以人類的共同文化來看

we know we can't afford to lose bees.

就會知道失去蜜蜂的後果不堪設想

So what's going on?

到底發生甚麼事了?

Bees are dying from multiple and interacting causes,

其實蜂群死亡其來有自，且交錯紛雜

and I'll go through each of these.

我會逐一說明

The bottom line is,

但根本的問題是

bees dying reflects a flowerless landscape

蜜蜂的死亡反映了環境中缺乏花朵

and a dysfunctional food system.

還有失能的糧食系統

Now we have the best data on honeybees,

至於蜜蜂則有最可靠的數據

so I'll use them as an example.

我會以這些數據為例

In the United States, bees in fact have been

以美國來看

in decline since World War II.

蜜蜂數量自二戰後持續減少

We have half the number of managed hives

目前美國養蜂場的蜂箱數

in the United States now compared to 1945.

是1945年的一半

We're down to about two million hives of bees, we think.

我們估計總數已減少到約2百萬箱

And the reason is, after World War II,

原因是二戰後

we changed our farming practices.

我們改變了耕作方式

We stopped planting cover crops.

不再種覆土作物

We stopped planting clover and alfalfa,

像三葉草和苜蓿

which are natural fertilizers that fix nitrogen in the soil,

它們能把土壤中的氮素鎖住，是天然肥料

and instead we started using synthetic fertilizers.

而我們卻以化肥取代

Clover and alfalfa are highly nutritious food plants for bees.

但對蜜蜂而言，三葉草和苜蓿的營養價值很高

And after World War II, we started using herbicides

另外，二戰後除草劑的施用

to kill off the weeds in our farms.

雖除去農場上的雜草

Many of these weeds are flowering plants

但其中很多是開花植物

that bees require for their survival.

也是蜜蜂生存命脈

And we started growing larger and larger crop monocultures.

另外單一作物的種植面積擴大

Now we talk about food deserts,

所以我們要談談食品沙漠

places in our cities, neighborhoods that have no grocery stores.

城市中有些地方沒有雜貨店

The very farms that used to sustain bees

而過去蜜蜂賴以生存的農場

are now agricultural food deserts,

反成食品沙漠

dominated by one or two plant species

為一兩種作物寡占

like corn and soybeans.

例如玉米和大豆

Since World War II, we have been systematically

二戰後人類就有計畫地

eliminating many of the flowering plants

除去許多開花植物

that bees need for their survival.

可是蜜蜂仰賴它們維生

And these monocultures extend even to crops

單一作物的農耕方式甚至使用在

that are good for bees, like almonds.

像杏仁這樣對蜜蜂有益的作物

Fifty years ago, beekeepers would take a few colonies,

50年前，養蜂人會帶著數個蜂群(箱)

hives of bees into the almond orchards, for pollination,

到杏仁園進行授粉

and also because the pollen in an almond blossom

一個原因是杏仁花粉

is really high in protein. It's really good for bees.

富含蛋白質，對蜜蜂很好

Now, the scale of almond monoculture

目前杏仁的單一作物規模

demands that most of our nation's bees,

需要動用全國大部分的蜜蜂幫忙

over 1.5 million hives of bees,

150萬多個蜂箱的蜜蜂

be transported across the nation

被送到全國各地

to pollinate this one crop.

幫杏仁授粉

And they're trucked in in semi-loads,

蜂箱是以半承載式卡車運達

and they must be trucked out,

事後送返

because after bloom, the almond orchards

因為花期過後的杏仁園

are a vast and flowerless landscape.

是花影杳然的無垠景觀

Bees have been dying over the last 50 years,

這50年來蜜蜂逐漸滅絕

and we're planting more crops that need them.

我們卻種了更多需要牠們的作物

There has been a 300 percent increase in crop production

需要蜜蜂授粉的作物

that requires bee pollination.

近來產量已成長了三倍

And then there's pesticides.

另一個致命傷是農藥

After World War II, we started using pesticides

二戰後我們拼命使用農藥

on a large scale, and this became necessary

而這演變為一種必要手段

because of the monocultures that put out a feast

因為單一作物的耕作方式

for crop pests.

提供了害蟲豐盛的食物

Recently, researchers from Penn State University

最近賓州大學的研究人員

have started looking at the pesticide residue

已著手研究蜜蜂帶回家吃的花粉中

in the loads of pollen that bees carry home as food,

農藥殘留的程度

and they've found that every batch of pollen

他們發現

that a honeybee collects

蜜蜂採集的每一批花粉

has at least six detectable pesticides in it,

都測出至少6種農藥

and this includes every class of insecticides,

包括各類殺蟲劑

herbicides, fungicides,

除草劑和殺真菌劑

and even inert and unlabeled ingredients

甚至還包括不知名的佐劑

that are part of the pesticide formulation

這些佐劑雖是次要成分

that can be more toxic than the active ingredient.

卻可能比主成分更毒

This small bee is holding up a large mirror.

借鏡這些小蜂的遭遇

How much is it going to take to contaminate humans?

可窺見農藥劑量對人體危害的比例

One of these class of insecticides,

有一類殺蟲劑

the neonicontinoids,

叫類尼古丁（新菸鹼Neonicotinoids）

is making headlines around the world right now.

正引起全球關注

You've probably heard about it.

你們可能早有耳聞

This is a new class of insecticides.

這是一類新型殺蟲劑

It moves through the plant so that a crop pest,

藥性可蔓延整株植物

a leaf-eating insect,

因此食葉害蟲

would take a bite of the plant

只需一口

and get a lethal dose and die.

便足以喪命

If one of these neonics, we call them,

如果任一種俗稱neonics(類尼古丁)的農藥

is applied in a high concentration,

以高濃度施用

such as in this ground application,

像這樣施用於土壤

enough of the compound moves through the plant

植物所吸收的成分劑量

and gets into the pollen and the nectar,

足以滲入花粉和花蜜

where a bee can consume, in this case,

蜜蜂在此情況下吃進

a high dose of this neurotoxin

高劑量的神經毒素

that makes the bee twitch and die.