The Honey Bee Apis mellifera: An Insect at the Interface between Human and Ecosystem Health

Biology

Rita Aromolo¹  Elisa Bianchetto²  Massimo Lucarini³  Alessandra Durazzo³  Giuseppe Pignatti⁴  Manuela Plutino⁵  Andrea Ambrogio⁶  Ioannis K. Karabagias⁷  Ilaria Negri⁸  Giulia Papa⁸  Roberto Maier⁹  Marco Pellecchia^1,10 

[1] CREA-Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, via Della Navicella 4, 00184 Rome, Italy;CREA-Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, via di Lanciola 12/A, 50125 Firenze, Italy;CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy;CREA-Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, 00166 Roma, Italy;CREA-Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, Viale Santa Margherita 80, 52100 Arezzo, Italy;DRANAE, Via Borghetto 27, 29121 Piacenza, Italy;Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Patras, Charilaou Trikoupi 2, 30100 Agrinio, Greece;Department of Sustainable Crop Production–DIPROVES, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy;Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy;KOINE’–Consulenze Ambientali, 43022 Montechiarugolo, Italy;

关键词: Apis mellifera;    honey bee;    ecosystem services;    agro-ecosystems;    bee products;    provisioning services;   

DOI  :  10.3390/biology11020233

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The concept of ecosystem services is widely understood as the services and benefits thatecosystems provide to humans, and they have been categorised into provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. This article aims to provide an updated overview of the benefits that the honey bee Apis mellifera provides to humans as well as ecosystems. We revised the role of honey bees as pollinators in natural ecosystems to preserve and restore the local biodiversity of wild plants; in agro-ecosystems, this species is widely used to enhance crop yield and quality, meeting the increasing food demand. Beekeeping activity provides humans not only with high-quality food but also with substances used as raw materials and in pharmaceuticals, and in polluted areas, bees convey valuable information on the environmental presence of pollutants and their impact on human and ecosystem health. Finally, the role of the honey bee in symbolic tradition, mysticism, and the cultural values of the bee habitats are also presented. Overall, we suggest that the symbolic value of the honey bee is the most important role played by this insect species, as it may help revitalise and strengthen the intimate and reciprocal relationship between humans and the natural world, avoiding the inaccuracy of considering the ecosystems as mere providers of services to humans.

【 授权许可】

Unknown