built upon various pillars.

社会を支える柱の一つは ミツバチだ

One of them is the honey bee.

食料の３分の１は彼らが作っている

One out of three meals eaten by humans is made possible by honey bees.

すべてのミツバチが死ねば

They are so important that if all the honey bees were to die out,

何千という植物が死に

thousands of plants would follow,

何百万人もが飢えるだろう

which could lead to millions of people starving in the following years.

ミツバチの影響力は大きく

On top of that, honey bees have a huge economic impact.

受粉が生む金銭的価値は

The dollar value of plants pollinated by them each year

年間2650億ドルだ

is around $265 billion.

もし受粉がなくなったら

Food we take for granted would just stop existing without them,

生産性は大きく減少する

or there would be a massive decrease in productivity.

果物の他 家畜のエサも減るため

Food including apples, onions, pumpkins, and also plants used for feeding livestock

牛乳や肉にも関わってくる

and thus extremely important for our milk and meat.

アインシュタインは言った

Einstein is often quoted as having said,

"ミツバチが消えれば 人間も消える"

“If honey bees die out, humans will follow a few years later.”

発言の真偽はともかく 真実味はある

Actually, he probably didn’t say that,

そして近年 ミツバチが消え始めた

but there might be some truth in the statement.

大量の巣箱が数年で死に

It’s unsettling, but honey bees have started to disappear.

世界の養蜂産業全体で

Millions of hives have died in the last few years.

30－90％の巣が失われた

Beekeepers all over the world have seen an annual loss of 30–90% of their colonies.

アメリカでも衰退は進む

In the US alone, bees are steadily declining.

1988年500万あったが今では250万だ

>From 5 million hives in 1988 to 2.5 million today.

2006年 蜂群崩壊症候群という現象が

Since 2006, a phenomenon called “colony collapse disorder”

世界中で発生した

has affected honey bees in many countries.

原因はわかっていないが

And we’re not entirely sure what’s causing it.

これはとても深刻な事態だ

All we know is that it’s pretty serious.

ミツバチは最近

Over the last few decades bees have seen an invasion of very dangerous foes.

危険な敵に攻撃されている

Parasites straight out of a horror movie, like Acarapis woodi,

ホラー映画にいるような

microscopic mites that infect the tracheae (that’s the breathing tubes) of bees.

目に見えない小さなダニが

Here, they lay their eggs and feed from the fluids of their victims,

新たにハチに感染しだしたのだ

weakening them considerably and spending their whole life inside the bees.

寄生虫はハチの体内で成長し

Or Varroa destructor, a fitting name because they can only reproduce

宿主を弱らせつつ 死ぬまで寄生する

in honey bee hives and are one of the bees’ greatest enemies.

ミツバチヘギイタダニは

The female mite enters a honey bee brood cell and lays eggs on the bee larva

名前からしてもミツバチ最大の敵だ

before it’s about to pupate and

ダニはミツバチの巣に入ると

before the hive bees cover the cell with a wax capping.

幼虫に卵を産みつける

The eggs hatch and the young mites and their mother feed on the developing bee

その後部屋が膜で覆われると

in the safety of the capped cell.

それから卵が孵化し

The bee is not normally killed at this stage, just weakened,

隠れて安全に養分を奪う

so it still has enough strength to chew its way through the wax capping

この段階では殺さず

and release itself from the cell.

成虫になり 膜を破って出ていくとき

As it does, it releases the mother mite and her new offspring from the cell,

一緒に外に出る

and these are free to spread across the hive,

ダニの子孫は別の部屋へ入っていき

starting the process over again in a cycle of about 10 days.

これが全体に広がる

Their numbers grow exponentially, and after a few months,

一周10日のこのプロセスを繰り返し

this can lead to the collapse of the entire bee hive.

数カ月後 数が膨れ上がると

Once outside of the cell, adult mites also suck the bodily fludis of bees

そのハチの巣は崩壊する

and weaken them considerably.

大人のダニはハチの体液を吸うため

To make things worse, they also transmit viruses that harm the bees even more

ハチは弱り

and can lead to birth defects like useless wings.

さらにウイルスを持っていた場合は

But there are other threats too, such as viruses and fungi.

ハネに異常をきたしてしまう

Under normal circumstances, these phenomena should be manageable

ウイルスや菌類の危険もあるのだ

and are not enough to explain

だがこれらは通常 数も多くなく

the horrendous amount of dying going on in bees.

ハチの大量死の説明にはならない

Over recent years new insecticides have been introduced

また最近

that are deadly to bees.

新しい殺虫剤が使われだした

Neonicotinoids, a chemical family similar to nicotine,

その成分ネオニコチノイドは

was approved in the early 1990s as an alternative to chemicals like DDT.

無害であるとして認可されたものだ

They attack insects by harming their nervous systems.

昆虫の神経系を壊す薬は今

Today, they are the most widely used insecticides in the world.

世界中で殺虫剤として使われている

Globally, they saw sales of €1.5 billion in 2008,

2008年の売上は15億ドルで

representing 24% of the global market for insecticides.

シェア24％の人気殺虫剤だ

In 2013, neonicotinoids were used in the US on about 95% of corn and canola crops,

2013年 アメリカでは

and also on the vast majority of fruit and vegetables,

ほとんどの穀物やアブラナ

like apples, cherries, peaches, oranges, berries, leafy greens, tomatoes, potatoes,

果物や野菜の多くに使われた

cereal grains, rice, nuts, grapes, and many more.

りんご さくらんぼ 桃 オレンジ

Bees come into contact with the toxin

ベリー レタス トマト じゃがいも

while collecting pollen or via contaminated water,

麦 米 ナッツ ぶどう などである

often bringing material into the hive,

ハチは花粉や水を介しその毒に接触

where it can accumulate and slowly kill the whole colony.

毒は巣に運ばれて蓄積し

The toxins harm bees in a variety of horrible ways.

徐々に巣を蝕んだ

In high enough doses, it quickly leads to convulsions, paralysis, and death.

毒はハチを恐ろしい方法で殺す

But even in small doses, it can be fatal.

一定量で神経がマヒし 硬直し 死ぬ

It may lead to bees forgetting how to navigate the world,

少量でも致命的だ

so bees fly into the wild, get lost, and die alone, separated from their hives.

ハチは方向感覚を失って

If this happens often enough, a hive can lose its ability to sustain itself.

巣の外で道に迷い 帰れなくなり

We know that neonicotinoids are harmful to bees

一人で死ぬ

and that we urgently need an alternative to it,

数が減れば 巣は存続できなくなる

but there are billions of dollars to be made in delaying this.

殺虫剤が有害だとすれば

Studies sponsored by the chemical industry magically appear to prove

代替案が必要となるが

a much lower toxicity to bees, compared to those produced by independent scientists.

それは何億ドルもの損失を出す

There are even more factors contributing to the demise of bees,

関連企業の科学者は安全だと主張し

like too much genetic uniformity, crop monocultures,

独立の科学者とは違う意見のようだ

poor nutrition due to overcrowding, stress because of human activities,

ハチ絶滅の要因は他にもある

and other pesticides.

遺伝子組換え品 単作農業

Each of those factors on its own is a major problem for bees,

栄養不足 人間の行動によるストレス

but together, they probably account for colony collapse disorder.

他の農薬など

With parasites upping their game in recent decades,

どれもが大きな問題だが

the honey bees are now fighting for survival.

蜂群崩壊症候群はその総合的問題だ

It would be a catastrophe if they lost this fight.

最近寄生虫も加わったが

This is a conundrum we have to solve if we want to continue living

ミツバチは必死に戦っている

with a relative abundance and diversity of food.

戦いに負け 大絶滅となれば

Humanity is deeply interconnected with Earth and the other lifeforms on it,

私たちの生活は変わり

even if we pretend that we’re not.

食べ物の多様性はなくなるだろう

We have to take better care of our surroundings,

人間は他の生物たちと繋がっている

if not to preserve the beauty of nature, then at least to ensure our own survival.

私たちは環境に配慮する必要がある

This video is supported by the Australian Academy of Science,

自然を守れなければ

which promotes and supports excellence in science.

自身も守れないのだから

See more at .

Subtitles by the Amara.org community

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