Colony Collapse

Honey bees are social insects that live in colonies.

蜜蜂是群居的昆虫。

A bee colony consists of a queen bee ，male drones and thousands of female worker bees.

一个蜂群由一只蜂后、雄蜂和数千只工蜂雌蜂组成。

Each colony also contains eggs and immature bees in various stages of development.

每个蜂群中也有处于不同发展阶段的卵和未成熟的蜜蜂。

The number of bees within a colony depends on seasonal changes.

蜂群中蜜蜂的数量取决于季节的变化。

A colony's population increases during the warm seasons and decreases during colder seasons.

蜂群的数量在温暖的季节增加，在寒冷的季节减少。

In recent years, many bee colonies have collapsed ,or disappeared.

最近几年，许多蜂群已经崩溃或者消失

A bee colony collapse occurs when a majority of the bees in a colony disappear and leave behind the queen.

蜂群崩溃发生在蜂群中大数目的蜜蜂消失，留下蜂后

Some beekeepers have reported losing 30 to 90 percent of their colonies.

一些养蜂人报告说他们失去了蜂群的30%到90%

This loss of bee colonies can cause significant problems for farmers who depend on them to pollinate their crops.

蜂群的消失会给依靠蜂群给庄稼授粉的农民带来严重的问题

In some parts of the world, a shortage of bees has increased the cost of renting bees by up to 20%.

在世界上一些地区，由于蜜蜂短缺，租用蜜蜂的费用增加了20%。

There are several possible causes for bee colony collapse.

蜂群崩溃有几个可能的原因

One possible cause is the use of new pesticides.

一个可能的原因是使用了新的杀虫剂

Other possible causes include infections from viruses , genetic factors , and malnutrition.

其他原因包括病毒感染、遗传因素和营养不良

Changing weather patterns may also play a role as summer get hotter and winter get colder.

天气模式的变化也可能导致夏天变热，冬天变冷

these changes in weather may weaken the bees ,making it more difficult for them to fight infections.

天气的这些变化可能会削弱蜜蜂的力量，使它们更难抵抗感染。

In addition to making honey, honey bees help many plants reproduce.

除了酿蜜，蜜蜂还帮助许多植物繁衍

Whatever the cause of colony collapse , it's important to understand that many parts of our world are interdependent.

无论蜂群崩溃的原因是什么，重要的是了解我们世界的许多地方是相互依赖的。

Changes that affect one species may have serious effects on other species.

影响一个物种的变化可能会对其他物种产生严重影响

A change to our environment can start a chain of events that is difficult to predict .

环境的改变会引发一系列难以预测的事件

In any complex system such as the Earth's environment,small changes can have unforeseen consequences.

在任何复杂的系统中，比如地球环境，微小的变化都可能产生不可预见的后果。

The danger of unforeseen consequence is something we all need to understand better.

我们都需要更好地理解不可预见后果的危险