Introduction The decline of the honey bee is a well-known fact, but does the world need to take desperate action to conserve the honeybee population. Using the SMART analysis approach in the AGRC1010 Learning Guide (Russel et al. 2012) this will explore the system which surrounds the honeybee. The SMART Analysis explores the System Characteristics, Management Decisions and Activity, Actors and Institutions, Resource and Flows and Time and Space. System Characteristics The honeybee is well known around the world as an important pollinating insect; they produce honey and wax which is often used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. With honeybees being one of the few important pollinators, it is worrying when stressors begin to cause a decline …show more content…
This causes the beekeeper to select a hive site which will give the bee’s the best chance possible, good access to pollinating plants is one of the requirements for a healthy hive. Beekeepers are able to select which plants the bees can collect from. This influences the outcome of the honey and beeswax, which can open a higher profit market for the beekeeper. Farmers can also gain profit from honeybees, by placing a controlled hive near their crops that rely heavily on pollinating insects to …show more content…
Resource and Flows In the system analysis (Figure 1.) the effects of certain situations that a honeybee may encounter can have a variety of outcomes. If a hives flight path or the hive positioning is not monitored or positioning correctly, the hive will not be healthy and may become susceptible to disease or pests which can lead to a mass death in the hive. Another situation is that when a farm and honeybees are working together there can be a profitable effect for the farmer and honeybee but if pesticides are used on the crop the honeybees will die and there will be no profit to the farm. Time and Space Although there are other pollinators the honeybee is the most prefer, because farmers can have a controlled hive which pollinates the crop and increases product production, they also produce honey which can have medical benefits for local people who are plagued by allergies. These are only a few of the reasons why it is ideal for the conservation of the honeybee. This may be difficult as a higher demand for honeybee products and by-products, means larger hives are needed in areas that have little foraging access. This issue can have two outcomes either the hive will not work efficiently and face starvation or the bees will begin robbing which can turn a domesticated honeybee in to a feral