Honeybees
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents Who Took My Strawberries?
内容表 谁拿走了我的草莓?
4 Busy Bees.
4 繁忙的蜜蜂。
5 Missing in Action.
5 在行动中失踪。
6 On the Case.
页:1 办案
7 Just One Crop.
7 只有一个作物。
9 Keep On Trucking.
9 继续行驶
12 Help the Bees.
12帮助蜜蜂。
14 Glossary.
14 词汇表。
16 Who Took My Strawberries?
16号谁拿走了我的草莓?
Think of your favorite fruit.
想想你最喜欢的水果
Now imagine a world in which that fruit— or any other fruit, or many nuts, vegetables, or flowers—is extremely rare.
现在想象一下,这个世界中,这种水果——或任何其他水果,或许多坚果、蔬菜或花卉——是极其罕见的。
Without honeybees to pollinate the flowers of these plants, our diets would be very bland and boring.
没有蜜蜂来给这些植物的花花授粉, 我们的饮食会非常乏味和无聊。
In fact, one in three bites of the food you eat is thanks to honeybees.
事实上,你每吃一分之三的食物 都是因为蜜蜂
Yet honeybees are vanishing around the world, and the reasons have puzzled scientists for a long time.
然而蜜蜂在世界范围内正在消失,原因让科学家长期困惑.
Scientists have evidence, however, that the disappearance might have everything to do with humans.
然而,科学家有证据表明,失踪可能与人类有关。
A healthy honeybee colony moves into a new hive.
健康的蜜蜂聚居地会进入新的蜂巢
Busy Bees Bees live in colonies, which are busy, well-run places where each bee has a job to do, and all the bees in the colony depend on one another.
繁忙的蜜蜂 蜜蜂生活在殖民地,这里繁忙,经营良好的地方,每只蜜蜂都有工作可做,殖民地上所有的蜜蜂都互相依赖.
Outside of the colony, a lone honeybee can’t survive for more than twenty-four hours.
在殖民地之外,
Honeybees from a single hive can visit more than 100,000 flowers in a day.
单蜂窝出产的蜜蜂一天可出访花朵超过10万朵.
Once a bee finds a flower in bloom, it collects pollen for food and nectar to make honey.
一旦一蜜蜂在开花地中找到一朵花,它会收集花粉来做食物和花蜜来做蜂蜜.
At the same time, the honeybee performs—unintentionally—one of the most critical processes in nature: pollination.
同时,蜜蜂无意中进行自然界中最重要的过程之一:授粉。
As the bee brushes against the anthers on the inside of a flower, the bee’s body picks up pollen grains from that flower.
当蜜蜂在花的内侧与蚂蚁相撞时,蜜蜂的身体会从花上取出花粉粒.
When the bee lands on another flower, the pollen on its fur brushes off onto the pistil inside that flower.
当蜜蜂降落在另一朵花上时, 它的毛被上的花粉会把花毛刷到花的活塞上。
This leads to fertilization, a process that will eventually result in a seed.
这导致受精,这一过程最终会产生出一粒种子.
Without fertilization, plants can’t reproduce, and when the plants are gone, the species that depend on them for survival also disappear.
没有受精,植物就无法再生,当植物消失后,赖以生存的物种也随之消失.
Missing in Action In October 2006, an American beekeeper arrived at one of his apiaries, or beeyards, in Florida to pick up 400 hives.
2006年10月,一名美国养蜂人来到佛罗里达州他的一个养蜂场,即蜜蜂园取回了400个蜂巢。
Three weeks before, the hives had appeared healthy, but now he found the hives nearly empty.
三周前,蜂巢看起来很健康,但现在他发现蜂巢几乎空了.
Food, baby bees, and a few queens were all that remained.
食物,小蜜蜂,还有几个皇后 只剩下这些了
The beekeeper kneeled down, looking for dead bodies, but 20 million bees had disappeared.
养蜂人下跪找死尸,但有2000万只蜜蜂已经消失.
This beekeeper was not alone.
这个养蜂人并不孤单
Reports of other losses began to surface across the United States, Europe, Argentina, China, and other countries.
关于其他损失的报道开始在美国、欧洲、阿根廷、中国和其他国家出现。
During the winter of 2006–2007, roughly 750,000 of the estimated 2.
在2006-2007年冬季,估计有2人,其中约750 000人。
4 million colonies in the United States had vanished.
美国有400万个殖民地消失了。
On average, U.
平均来说 U.
S.
师曰.
2 billion bees vanished.
20亿只蜜蜂消失了。
Both farmers and beekeepers were desperate for science to shed some light on the mystery.
农民和养蜂人都绝望地希望科学能对这个谜团有所启示.
A bee pollinates a flower.
蜜蜂为花授粉.
A frame from a honeybee colony before and after the bees vanished.
在蜜蜂消失之前和之后 一个蜜蜂聚居地的相框
On the Case Scientists named the problem colony collapse disorder (CCD) and quickly determined the symptoms.
在"案例"上,科学家将问题聚落倒塌障碍(CCD)命名并迅速确定症状.
CCD happens in a matter of weeks when what seems to be a healthy hive collapses, yet few, if any, dead bees can be found.
CCD在几周内发生, 似乎是一个健康的蜂巢倒塌, 然而很少,如果有的话,死亡蜂。
The only bees remaining are the very young and the queen—members of the colony that normally would never be left alone.
仅存的蜜蜂是年轻和女王——殖民地的成员,他们通常不会被孤立。
Honeybee scientists from around the country started working on CCD with a simple goal: to find out what’s killing the honeybees and stop it.
来自全国各地的蜜蜂科学家开始研究CCD,
Reaching that goal has proven far more complicated than anyone expected.
事实证明,实现这一目标比任何人预期的要复杂得多。
CCD scientists surveyed beekeepers and took samples of wax, pollen, and live and dead bees (when they could find them).
CCD科学家调查了养蜂人,并采集了蜡,花粉,活蜂和死蜂的样本(当他们能找到它们时).
The samples were shipped to laboratories to be studied.
这些样品被运到实验室研究。
When scientists dissected the bees, they found that the bees had many diseases.
科学家在解剖蜜蜂时发现蜜蜂有许多疾病.
It seemed that their immune systems were compromised— but why?
似乎他们的免疫系统受到了破坏,但为什么呢?
The scientists investigated the usual suspects that might damage honeybees’ immune systems.
科学家调查了通常可能破坏蜜蜂免疫系统的嫌疑人。
These included several parasites, such as a mite that feeds on bee blood, transmits viruses, and lays eggs in the same hive cells as baby bees.
其中包括几种寄生虫,如以蜜蜂出血为食,传播病毒并产卵于与小蜜蜂相同的蜂巢细胞.
They looked at fungal bacteria that make it difficult for bees to eat and leave them too weak to forage.
他们观察了真菌细菌,这些细菌使得蜜蜂难以吃食,使其过于虚弱而无法觅食.
Scientists also found a virus that causes paralysis in a large number of CCD hives.
科学家还发现了一种导致大量CCD蜂巢瘫痪的病毒.
While these are all extremely dangerous to bees, researchers decided that none were the cause of CCD, so their investigation turned to farming practices.
虽然这些对蜜蜂来说都是极其危险的,但研究者们却认定无一是CCD的原因,因此他们的调查转向了耕作做法.
A scientist takes samples from a hive with CCD.
科学家用CCD从蜂巢取取样本.
Just One Crop Once upon a time, farms were small and grew many different crops.
就一个作物 从前,农场规模很小,种植出许多不同的作物.
Today, most farms are massive and grow a single crop, such as wheat, corn, or soybeans.
如今,大多数农场规模很大,种植一株单一作物,如小麦,玉米,或大豆等.
This arrangement is called a monoculture.
这种安排被称为单一培养.
Some farmers like a monoculture because it’s very efficient, but bees can’t survive on such a farm for long because once the single plant crop stops blooming for the year, the bees starve to death.
有些农民喜欢单一种植, 因为它非常高效, 但蜜蜂却无法在这样的农场生存很长时间, 因为一旦单一作物停止开花,
Monocultures present bees with other complications, too.
单体栽培也呈现出有其他并发症的蜜蜂.
Because pests love monocultures, farmers must spray chemical pesticides to eliminate them.
由于害虫喜欢单一养殖,农民必须喷洒化学杀虫剂来消灭.
In American agriculture, a large portion of the food we eat is treated with pesticides.
在美国农业中,我们所吃的大部分食物都用杀虫剂处理.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than a billion pounds of these chemicals are used on our crops annually.
据环境保护局称,这些化学品每年有10多亿磅被用在我们的作物上。
It’s challenging for farmers to find chemical pesticides that kill harmful insects but leave the beneficial ones, such as bees, alone.
农民很难找到杀死有害昆虫的化学杀虫剂,
Pesticides spell trouble for many creatures, bees in particular.
杀虫剂会给很多生物带来麻烦 尤其是蜜蜂
So farmers try to spray crops at times when plants aren’t blooming and honeybees are less likely to be nearby.
因此农民尝试在植物不开花和蜜蜂靠近时喷洒农作物。
Still, scientists found pesticides in the samples they’d collected from hives with CCD, and a new class of pesticides has some scientists particularly concerned.
科学家在用CCD采集的蜂巢样本中发现了农药,
These pesticides are systemic, which means that the seeds are treated with chemicals that then infiltrate every part of a plant as it grows.
这些杀虫剂是系统性的,这意味着种子用化学品处理,然后随着植物生长而渗透到植物的每一个部分.
A single treatment lasts a long time and kills various crop pests—a seemingly good thing— but the bee losses coincide with the appearance of these new pesticides.
单一的治疗持续了很长时间,杀死了各种作物害虫,这似乎是件好事,但蜜蜂损失与这些新杀虫剂的出现相吻合。
A truck sprays pesticide over young plants.
一辆卡车在年轻植物上喷洒杀虫剂。
Pesticides might weaken the bees’ immune systems, letting diseases like the paralysis virus take hold.
农药可能会削弱蜜蜂的免疫系统,使麻痹病毒等疾病得以维持。
Beyond this, though, systemic pesticides target the nervous system.
然而,除此之外,系统杀虫剂针对的是神经系统。
They might affect the bees’ ability to learn, remember, and navigate, all of which would contribute to the bees’ failure to return to the hive after foraging.
它们可能影响蜜蜂学习、记忆和航行的能力,所有这些都会助长蜜蜂在觅食后未能返回蜂巢。
If bees can’t find their way back to the beehive, they die.
如果蜜蜂找不到回蜂窝的路,
Scientists found evidence that systemic pesticides exist in beehives that have had CCD, and the timing of the introduction of these new pesticides coincides with the appearance of CCD.
科学家发现有证据表明,蜂窝中存在具有CCD的系统杀虫剂,采用这些新杀虫剂的时机正好与CCD的出现相吻合.
They cannot, however, state conclusively that these pesticides cause the disease.
但是,他们不能确切地说,这些杀虫剂造成了这种疾病。
Still more factors must be considered.
还必须考虑到更多的因素。
Keep On Trucking Bees have been buzzing around the world for 150 million years, but in the last 10,000 years, the relationship between bees and humans has transformed.
继续行驶 蜜蜂已经传遍全球1.5亿年,但在过去一万年中,蜜蜂与人类的关系已经改变.
From hunters of wild honey, humans have become beekeepers.
从野生蜂蜜的猎人,人类已经成为了养蜂人.
Today, many bees depend on us as much as we depend on them.
今天,许多蜜蜂与我们一样依赖它们。
Since honeybees are excellent pollinators, moving them into a field while crops are blooming is a great way for farmers to ensure a plentiful crop.
由于蜜蜂是出色的授粉者,因此在作物开花时将其移入田地,是农民确保丰收的好方法.
Once bees began to live in hives constructed by humans, the hives became mobile.
一旦蜜蜂开始生活在由人类所建造的蜂窝中,蜂窝就变得可移动.
Today in the United States, semi-trailer trucks drive hives all over the country.
今天在美国,半拖车卡车在全国各地行驶蜂巢.
The honeybees they carry annually pollinate $15 billion worth of food in the United States alone.
仅在美国,它们每年携带的蜜蜂就为价值150亿美元的食物授粉。
Today, trucks like this one transport hives all over the country.
今天,这种卡车在全国各地运送蜂巢。
Do You Know?
你知道吗?
Ancient Egyptians floated beehives on rafts down the Nile River to follow the bloom.
古埃及人将蜂窝浮出尼罗河下游的木筏上来跟随花开来.
Do You Know?
你知道吗?
Despite the fact that systemic pesticides are widely used in Australia, the honeybees there haven’t seen the same problems as others around the world.
尽管澳大利亚广泛使用系统性杀虫剂,
It could be because Australian winters are short and mild.
这可能是因为澳大利亚的冬季短而温和.
Perhaps it’s because Australia doesn’t move its bees from one monoculture to the next.
可能是因为澳大利亚不会将蜜蜂从单一的养殖方式转移到下一个单一的养殖方式。
So far, the mite that feeds on honeybees hasn’t made it to Australia, either.
至今为止,
The thought of trucking a million bees down the highway may seem strange, but it makes sense with modern monocultures.
将一百万只蜜蜂拖下高速公路的想法可能看起来很奇怪,但与现代的单一栽培方式相比却有道理.
Farmers might need bees to pollinate one crop in February and another one across the country in April.
农民可能需要蜜蜂在2月份为一棵作物授粉,4月份在全国为一棵作物授粉。
Almond trees, for example, are completely dependent on honeybees for pollination.
例如,杏树完全依赖蜜蜂来授粉.
In California, almond farmers require the use of 1.
在加州,杏花农需要使用1.
4 million colonies of honeybees.
蜜蜂四百万个殖民地.
That’s about 60 percent of all managed honeybee colonies in the United States.
美国所有蜜蜂聚居区中,
Around Valentine’s Day, bees are trucked to the California groves, and when the almond trees start to bloom, they go to work.
在情人节前后,蜜蜂被卡车运到了加州的树林中,等杏花树开花后,它们便去上班.
For two weeks, those 600,000 acres (242,811 ha) of blooming trees are a busy and beautiful sight.
两周来,那60万英亩(242,811公顷)开花的树木是一个繁忙而美丽的景色.
For the other fifty weeks of the year, those groves are terrible habitat for bees—there’s nothing to eat.
这些树林是蜜蜂的可怕栖息地,
Transport isn’t great for the bees, either.
交通对蜜蜂来说也不好。
Millions of bees die from the stress each year, and once they’re on the road, the bees don’t have access to natural food sources.
每年有上百万只蜜蜂因压力而死亡,一旦它们走上了道路,它们就无法获得天然食物来源。
What beekeepers feed them instead, some scientists liken to junk food.
养蜂人喂养它们,一些科学家喜欢垃圾食品。
Bringing in bees from different parts of the country (or the world) also spreads pests at a rapid rate.
引进来自该国(或世界)不同地区的蜜蜂也会以快快快的速度传播出害虫.
This is just one more piece of the complex puzzle of CCD.
这只是CCD复杂谜题的又一出.
Help the Bees Because of the complexity of CCD, scientists have yet to find an undeniable cause or cure for the disorder.
帮助蜜蜂 由于CCD的复杂性,科学家们尚未找到不可否认的病因或治疗障碍的方法.
However, there is still hope for honeybees.
然而,蜜蜂仍有希望.
By making a few changes, humans can begin to create honeybee-friendly environments.
通过做一些改变,人类可以开始创造出有利于蜜蜂的环境.
One thing honeybees need is diversity; lots of different wildflowers means lots of forage.
蜜蜂需要的一件事是多样性;许多不同的野花意味着大量的饲料.
To answer this need, honeybee sanctuaries full of blooming plants are springing up.
为了满足这一需要,蜂蜜蜂的疗养地正在涌出出出出出出满是开花植物.
In these places, bees can escape pesticides and find plenty to eat.
在这些地方,蜜蜂可以逃出杀虫剂并找到充足的食物.
A beekeeper is on his way to check on the more than 100,000 honeybees that live in hives around the garden on top of City Hall in downtown Chicago, Illinois.
一个养蜂人正在前往伊利诺伊州芝加哥市中心市政厅上方的花园周围住有超过10万只蜂蜜的检查.
A movement of rooftop and backyard beekeepers is growing, too.
屋顶和后院养蜂人的移动也在增加。
For a long time, it was illegal to keep bees in New York City, but that ban was overturned in 2010.
长期以来,在纽约市保留蜜蜂是非法的,但这一禁令于2010年被推翻.
Cities such as Seattle, Chicago, and San Francisco have also made it legal to keep bees.
西雅图,芝加哥,旧金山等城市也使得保留蜜蜂是合法的.
These beekeepers keep fewer hives and don’t truck them around.
这些养蜂人保留了更少的蜂巢,
People who don’t keep bees can plant blooming plants.
不保留蜜蜂的人可以种植开花植物。
Even monoculture farmers can take a small portion of their land and grow plants that would sustain bees all year long, not just for a couple of weeks each year.
甚至单种农场的农民也可以占用一小部分土地,种植能维持蜜蜂一整年的植物,而不只是每年的几个星期.
They might also use different pesticides, or none at all.
它们也可能使用不同的杀虫剂,或者根本不使用。
We all can make choices that help the honeybee.
我们都能够做出帮助蜜蜂的选择。
After all, the honeybee helps us every day.
毕竟蜜蜂每天帮我们
More and more people in cities are keeping bees, such as this woman in London, England.
越来越多的城市里的人在养蜜蜂,比如英国伦敦的这个女人.