蜜蜂與人類的命運休慼相關

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — AROUND the world, honeybee colonies are dying in huge numbers: About one-third of hives collapse each year, a pattern going back a decade. For bees and the plants they pollinate — as well as for beekeepers, farmers, honey lovers and everyone else who appreciates this marvelous social insect — this is a catastrophe.
加拿大溫哥華——目前，世界各地的蜂羣都在大批死亡：每年都有大約三分之一的蜂巢坍塌，這種現象已持續了10年之久。對於蜜蜂及通過它們授粉的植物——還有養蜂人、農民、喜愛蜂蜜的人，以及所有欣賞這種神奇的羣居昆蟲的人而言——這都是個災難。

But in the midst of crisis can come learning. Honeybee collapse has much to teach us about how humans can avoid a similar fate, brought on by the increasingly severe environmental perturbations that challenge modern society.
但是，這種危機之中也隱藏着一些學問。蜂巢的坍塌可以提供許多信息，告訴我們當愈加嚴重的環境問題對現代社會構成挑戰之時，人們如何才能避免相似的命運。

Honeybee collapse has been particularly vexing because there is no one cause, but rather a thousand little cuts. The main elements include the compounding impact of pesticides applied to fields, as well as pesticides applied directly into hives to control mites; fungal, bacterial and viral pests and diseases; nutritional deficiencies caused by vast acreages of single-crop fields that lack diverse flowering plants; and, in the United States, commercial beekeeping itself, which disrupts colonies by moving most bees around the country multiple times each year to pollinate crops.
蜜蜂的死亡尤其令人憂心，因爲起因並非只有一個，而是有上千種輕微的破壞因素。主要原因包括，農田噴灑的殺蟲劑，以及爲了抑制小蟲直接噴到蜂窩上的殺蟲劑所造成的綜合影響；帶有真菌、細菌和病毒的害蟲，以及疾病；由於大面積種植同一種作物而缺乏多種開花植物所造成的營養不足；在美國，商業養蜂人每年都會多次帶蜂羣在全國各地爲作物授粉，這種做法也對蜂羣造成了破壞。

The real issue, though, is not the volume of problems, but the interactions among them. Here we find a core lesson from the bees that we ignore at our peril: the concept of synergy, where one plus one equals three, or four, or more. A typical honeybee colony contains residue from more than 120 pesticides. Alone, each represents a benign dose. But together they form a toxic soup of chemicals whose interplay can substantially reduce the effectiveness of bees’ immune systems, making them more susceptible to diseases.
然而，真正的問題並不在於問題的多少，而是問題間的相互作用。我們從蜂羣身上得出了一則核心教訓，一旦忽視，就會給我們帶來危險，那就是協同作用的概念——即一加一等於三，或者四，甚至更大的數值。一般而言，每個蜂巢都含有120多種殺蟲劑殘餘物。單獨來看，每種殺蟲劑的劑量都是良性的。但是如果放在一起，它們就會形成一種有毒的化學液體，這些化學物質相互作用，會極大地破壞蜜蜂的免疫系統，讓蜂羣更容易患病。

These findings provide the most sophisticated data set available for any species about synergies among pesticides, and between pesticides and disease. The only human equivalent is research into pharmaceutical interactions, with many prescription drugs showing harmful or fatal side effects when used together, particularly in patients who already are disease-compromised. Pesticides have medical impacts as potent as pharmaceuticals do, yet we know virtually nothing about their synergistic impacts on our health, or their interplay with human diseases.
這些發現所提供的，關於殺蟲劑與殺蟲劑、殺蟲劑與疾病之間發生協同作用的數據集，是所有物種中最爲詳細的。對於人類，唯一對等的是對藥物相互作用的研究。許多處方藥在同時使用時，都會表現出有害乃至致命的副作用，對於那些已經生病的患者來說尤其如此。殺蟲劑與藥物的作用一樣強大，但我們其實根本不知道它們會對我們的健康產生怎樣的協同作用，也不知道它們會如何與人類的疾病相互影響。Observing the tumultuous demise of honeybees should alert us that our own well-being might be similarly threatened. The honeybee is a remarkably resilient species that has thrived for 40 million years, and the widespread collapse of so many colonies presents a clear message: We must demand that our regulatory authorities require studies on how exposure to low dosages of combined chemicals may affect human health before approving compounds.
我們應該從觀察蜜蜂大量死亡的現象中獲得警示：我們自己的健康同樣可能會受到威脅。蜜蜂是一種生命力極強的物種，4000萬年來，繁衍不息。大量蜂羣死亡的現象向我們傳達了一條明確的信息：我們必須要求監管機構做出要求，在批准混合藥物之前，必須研究低劑量的混合化學物會對人類健康造成何種影響。

Bees also provide some clues to how we may build a more collaborative relationship with the services that ecosystems can provide. Beyond honeybees, there are thousands of wild bee species that could offer some of the pollination service needed for agriculture. Yet feral bees — that is, bees not kept by beekeepers — also are threatened by factors similar to those afflicting honeybees: heavy pesticide use, destruction of nesting sites by overly intensive agriculture and a lack of diverse nectar and pollen sources thanks to highly effective weed killers, which decimate the unmanaged plants that bees depend on for nutrition.
蜜蜂還爲我們提供了一些線索，告訴我們如何能與生態系統所提供的服務建立起更具合作性的關係。除蜜蜂以外，還有數千種野蜂也能提供農作物所需的授粉服務。不過野生蜂——即不是養蜂人所養的蜜蜂——也受到了與蜜蜂的境況相似的威脅：大量使用殺蟲劑；農耕過於集中造成築巢區被摧毀；高效除草劑的使用，減少了花蜜和花粉來源的多樣性——除草劑大量消滅了作爲蜜蜂營養來源的野生植物。

Recently, my laboratory at Simon Fraser University conducted a study on farms that produce canola oil that illustrated the profound value of wild bees. We discovered that crop yields, and thus profits, are maximized if considerable acreages of cropland are left uncultivated to support wild pollinators.
最近，我在西蒙弗雷澤大學(Simon Fraser University)的實驗室對生產菜籽油的農場進行了研究。研究發現，野蜂能發揮重要價值。我們發現，如果把相當一部分農田留出來不耕作，而是用來爲野生授粉昆蟲提供生存資料，那麼糧食產量和收入就會最大限度地提高。

A variety of wild plants means a healthier, more diverse bee population, which will then move to the planted fields next door in larger and more active numbers. Indeed, farmers who planted their entire field would earn about $27,000 in profit per farm, whereas those who left a third unplanted for bees to nest and forage in would earn $65,000 on a farm of similar size.
野生植物種類繁多，就意味着蜜蜂也會更健康、種類更多，然後就會有更多、更活躍的蜜蜂飛到旁邊的種植區。把所有農田種滿的農民，每個農場的收益約爲2.7萬美元（約合17萬元人民幣），而對於那些面積相當的農場，如果留出三分之一的農田不耕作，而是供蜜蜂築巢和搜尋食物，其收益則爲6.5萬美元。

Such logic goes against conventional wisdom that fields and bees alike can be uniformly micromanaged. The current challenges faced by managed honeybees and wild bees remind us that we can manage too much. Excessive cultivation, chemical use and habitat destruction eventually destroy the very organisms that could be our partners.
這種邏輯與常規觀念存在衝突，後者認爲我們可以對農田和蜜蜂等事物進行細緻入微的管理。但家養的蜜蜂和野蜂目前所面臨的挑戰提醒卻我們，我們或許管得太多了。過度的耕作、化學品的使用和棲息地的破壞，最終會破壞原本能成爲我們的合作伙伴的有機體。

And this insight goes beyond mere agricultural economics. There is a lesson in the decline of bees about how to respond to the most fundamental challenges facing contemporary human societies. We can best meet our own needs if we maintain a balance with nature — a balance that is as important to our health and prosperity as it is to the bees.
這種觀點的意義不僅在於農業經濟學。蜂羣數量的減少告訴我們要如何迴應當代人類社會所面臨的最基本挑戰。如果我們能與自然保持平衡，我們就能最好地滿足自己的需求——這種平衡對於我們的健康和繁榮很重要，對蜂羣也一樣。