And it's not just for food sources; bees

而且這不僅僅是為了食物來源；蜜蜂

also keep the health of wild ecosystems in check by pollinating wildflowers, which in

通過給野花授粉，還能保持野生生態系統的健康，而野花在

turn maintains biodiversity and a thriving terrestrial biomes. And while all bee species

反過來維持生物多樣性和一個繁榮的陸地生物群落。而且，雖然所有的蜜蜂物種

are helpful pollinators, honey bees are crucial to our own food supply, pollinating close

蜜蜂是有益的傳粉者，對我們自己的食物供應至關重要，它們為近距離傳粉。

to 90 commercially grown crops in the U.S.

在美國有90種商業種植的農作物。

But bee populations have been under extreme stresses, from pesticides to the climate crisis,

但是，從殺蟲劑到氣候危機，蜜蜂種群一直處於極端壓力之下。

to parasites and diseases.

對寄生蟲和疾病。

-We are currently losing between 30% and close to 50% of our honeybee colonies every single

-目前，我們正在失去30%至接近50%的蜜蜂群，每一個

year. What would be worse is to add a parasite

年。更糟糕的是，要增加一個寄生蟲

that we know has a dramatic impact on honey bees.

我們知道這對蜜蜂有極大的影響。

-Unfortunately, that's exactly the situation all bees are facing. This is Dr. Sammy Ramsey,

-不幸的是，這正是所有蜜蜂所面臨的情況。這位是薩米-拉姆齊博士。

a scientist at the USDA focused on protecting bees from an emerging threat.

美國農業部的一位科學家專注於保護蜜蜂免受一種新出現的威脅。

-The tropilaelaps mite or the tropi mite is a type of mesostigmatid mite. Many of the

-託皮拉普斯蟎或託皮蟎是一種介殼蟲蟎。許多

mesostigmatid are parasites or predators of other organisms.

mesostigmatid是其他生物體的寄生蟲或捕食者。

-Tropi mites are reddish brown parasites that measure roughly a millimeter in length. The

-託匹蟎是紅褐色的寄生蟲，長度約為一毫米。蟎蟲

mites originated in Southeast Asia, and they started off as parasites of the Giant honey

蟎蟲起源於東南亞，一開始是寄生在巨人蜂蜜中。

bees, which over time developed behavioral responses to remove these pests. But the resourceful

蜜蜂，隨著時間的推移，它們形成了消除這些害蟲的行為反應。但足智多謀的

tropi mites have now jumped to a new host— the European honey bee or Apis mellifera,

託匹蟎現在已經跳到一個新的宿主--歐洲蜜蜂或Apis mellifera。

a species that you're all probably familiar with here in the U.S., simply as our honey bees.

一個你們在美國可能都很熟悉的物種，只是作為我們的蜜蜂。

These honey bees thrive in many other places around the world. Luckily, the tropi

這些蜜蜂在世界許多其他地方茁壯成長。幸運的是，託比

mite hasn't reached all those populations yet. And bees in the U.S. are safe for now.

蟎蟲還沒有達到所有這些種群。而美國的蜜蜂目前是安全的。

But if tropi mites do invade, honey bees are far less equipped to deal with the mite, making

但是，如果託皮蟎真的入侵，蜜蜂處理蟎蟲的能力就會大打折扣，使得

them even more vulnerable. Especially since the mites attack the brood, aka bee babies.

它們甚至更加脆弱。特別是由於蟎蟲會攻擊幼蟲，也就是蜜蜂的寶寶。

-The tropi mite will go into the brood cell, and begin feeding on them in pretty much the

-託匹蟎會進入育雛室，並開始在相當大的程度上以它們為食。

rudest way possible. They've got like this mouth, but then there's like another mouth

最粗魯的方式。他們有這樣一張嘴，但又有另一張嘴。

inside of their mouth. It's like the alien from Alien. They will bite holes in every

他們的嘴巴里面。這就像《異形》中的外星人。他們會在每個人的嘴裡咬出洞來

section of the bee's body, providing so many entry points for bacteria, for fungi, for

蜜蜂身體的一部分，為細菌、真菌和病毒提供了許多入口。

viruses, but also breaking down tissue as they go,

病毒，但也會在它們的過程中分解組織。

creating wounds all over the bee's body.

在蜜蜂的身體上製造出各種傷口。

-This can result in bees having deformed body parts, reduced longevity, and illnesses like

-這可能會導致蜜蜂的身體部位變形，壽命縮短，以及諸如以下的疾病

Deformed wing virus.

畸形的翅膀病毒。

-As you end up with more and more and more sick bees,

-因為你最終會有越來越多的病蜜蜂。

the colony can then collapse.

然後蜂群就會崩潰。

-Now, these tropi mites aren't just bad news for honey bees. They also present a huge threat

-現在，這些tropi蟎蟲不僅僅是對蜜蜂的壞消息。它們還構成了一個巨大的威脅

to U.S. agriculture, meaning they're a threat to our economy and food security.

對美國農業來說，這意味著它們是對我們的經濟和食品安全的威脅。

-We grow crops at levels that are unsustainable for the environment in normal settings. And

-我們種植的作物在正常情況下對環境來說是不可持續的。而且

we bring in the bees to boost the yield, such that we can feed a lot more people on a much

我們引入蜜蜂來提高產量，這樣我們就可以用更多的錢養活更多的人。

smaller amount of land in a much more efficient way.

以更有效的方式獲得更少量的土地。

-As much as 75% of the crops we grow rely in part on pollination. So without honey bees'

-我們種植的多達75%的農作物部分依靠授粉。是以，如果沒有蜜蜂的

contributions, a lot of the foods we love, like coffee, avocados, and almonds would

貢獻，很多我們喜歡的食物，如咖啡、鱷梨和杏仁會

not be possible to grow at volume, and would therefore be a lot more expensive.

不可能大量增長，是以會昂貴得多。

-A single colony of honey bees can have 60,000 bees in it, and millions, and millions, and

-一群蜜蜂可以有60,000只蜜蜂，還有幾百萬只，還有幾百萬只，還有幾百萬只。

millions of those bees are moved around the United States every year to take them on a

每年有數以百萬計的這些蜜蜂被轉移到美國各地，帶著它們去旅行。

pollination tour.

授粉之旅。

-All the crops honey bees pollinate result in more than 15 billion dollars put into our

-所有蜜蜂授粉的農作物為我們帶來了超過150億美元的收入。

economy every year. And it's not just our agricultural systems that depend on bees...

每年的經濟。而且，不僅僅是我們的農業系統依賴於蜜蜂...

-Honey bees are a staple of terrestrial ecosystems in general, because so many flowering plants

-蜜蜂是一般陸地生態系統的主食，因為有許多開花植物

maintain important balances within the ecosystems that we know of...

在我們所知的生態系統中維持重要的平衡...

-Bees and other pollinators interact with flowering plants. In turn, these plants maintain soil

-蜜蜂和其他傳粉者與開花植物相互作用。反過來，這些植物維持土壤

health, and purify water in terrestrial ecosystems like grasses, prairies, and wetlands. And

健康，並淨化草地、大草原和溼地等陸地生態系統的水。而且

these ecosystems are already threatened by the changing climate. On top of that, tropi

這些生態系統已經受到了氣候變化的威脅。除此以外，熱帶雨林

mites aren't picky and research shows these mites can spread from species to species.

蟎蟲並不挑剔，研究表明這些蟎蟲可以在物種之間傳播。

-We have found them in pretty much all of the different subgenera of honey bees that are

-我們在幾乎所有不同的蜜蜂亞屬中都發現了它們。

out there. And that is a huge concern, because its also not just the honey bees where we've found .

在那裡。這是一個巨大的擔憂，因為它也不僅僅是我們發現的蜜蜂。

where we've found them. Research out of India

我們在哪裡發現了它們。印度以外的研究

has shown that they can also feed on Carpenter bees.

已經表明，它們也可以以木匠蜜蜂為食。

If it were to be the case that we had this parasite transitioning to Carpenter bees,

如果是這樣的話，我們有這種寄生蟲過渡到木匠蜂。

bumble bees, we could end up in a lot of trouble.

大黃蜂，我們最終可能會有很多麻煩。

-There are more than 20,000 bee species globally, of those, 4,000 are native to the U.S. And

-全球有超過20,000種蜜蜂，其中4,000種原產於美國。

if they fell victim to these mites, it could cause the collapse of beekeeping systems and

如果它們成為這些蟎蟲的受害者，可能會導致養蜂系統的崩潰和

devastate many of the world's ecosystems across all continents, except Antarctica.

除南極洲外，世界各大洲的許多生態系統都遭到破壞。

That's why we need to act fast, because the tropi mites have already started to move

這就是為什麼我們需要快速行動，因為託皮蟎已經開始移動了。

out of Southeast Asia and are making their way to other parts of the world. So how exactly

從東南亞出來，正在向世界其他地區進軍。那麼，究竟如何

can we stop these mites?

我們能阻止這些蟎蟲嗎？

One major win is that scientists have successfully developed

一個主要的勝利是，科學家們已經成功地開發了

a test to identify Tropilaelaps species.

鑑定Tropilaelaps物種的測試。

But we still don't know a tried and true method to fight the mite.

但是，我們仍然不知道有什麼行之有效的方法來對抗蟎蟲。

-The more that we know about this organism, the more ways we can find to mitigate the

-我們對這種生物體瞭解得越多，就能找到更多的方法來減輕其危害。

damage that it causes within honeybee colonies, the more ways that we can find to manage populations

我們可以找到更多的方法來管理蜜蜂種群。

of this parasite. I've been trying to make sure that I can increase awareness

這種寄生蟲的問題。我一直在努力確保能夠提高人們的認識

about this organism, such that more people understand the issues that it could cause

關於這種生物體，使更多人瞭解它可能導致的問題。

were it to arrive in the US.

如果它能到達美國。

-And raising awareness is important in order to highlight the urgency of this issue. This

-而為了強調這個問題的緊迫性，提高意識是很重要的。這

is the first step in getting governments and organizations to fund critical research—like

是讓政府和組織資助關鍵研究的第一步，如

Dr. Ramsey's—that will help mitigate the agricultural and ecological impact, should

拉姆齊博士的--這將有助於減輕農業和生態的影響，應

these mites arrive in the U.S. So... when exactly will that be?

那麼......到底什麼時候才會到？

-We really don't know for sure how long it would take for these organisms to get here.

-我們真的不知道這些生物體需要多長時間才能到達這裡。

It's possible that it could be anything from a matter of years to a matter of decades,

這有可能是幾年到幾十年的事情。

or they potentially could never arrive at all.

或者他們有可能根本就沒有到達。

-That would be the best case scenario. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared.

-這將是最好的情況。但這並不意味著我們不應該做好準備。

And that's why Dr. Ramsey's work with different international institutions to help

這就是為什麼拉姆齊博士與不同的國際機構合作以幫助

gather important research is crucial to help ensure we get the most complete picture of

收集重要的研究是至關重要的，以幫助確保我們獲得最完整的資訊。

this tropi mite, while protecting our food, our economy, and our bee friends.

在保護我們的食物、經濟和我們的蜜蜂朋友的同時，也要保護這種託皮蟎。

If you're bee crazy, and want to learn more about different species of bees

如果你是蜜蜂愛好者，想了解更多關於不同種類的蜜蜂的資訊

other than the honey bee, make sure to check out the documentary, My Garden of a Thousand

除了蜜蜂之外，一定要看看紀錄片《我的千人花園》。

Bees, streaming now on Nature on PBS. So what do you think about the tropi mite threat?

蜜蜂》，正在PBS的《自然》欄目中播放。那麼，你對託匹蟎的威脅有什麼看法？

Let us know down in the comments below. Make sure to subscribe to Seeker, and thanks for

請在下面的評論中告訴我們。請務必訂閱Seeker，並感謝

watching. I'll see you next time.

看著。下次見。