正文：
Honey bees are social insects that live in colonies.
蜂群里生活的蜜蜂是群居昆蟲。
A bee colony consists of a queen bee, male drones and thousands of female worker bees.
蜂群由一只蜂王、雄性雄蜂和數(shù)千只雌性工蜂組成。
Each colony also contains eggs and immature bees in various stages of development.
每個群體還包含處于不同發(fā)育階段的卵和未成熟的蜜蜂。
The number of bees within a colony depends on seasonal changes.
蜂群內(nèi)蜜蜂的數(shù)量取決于季節(jié)變化。
A colony's population increases during the warm seasons and decreases during colder seasons.
蜂群里蜜蜂的數(shù)量在溫暖的季節(jié)增加，在寒冷的季節(jié)減少。
In recent years, many bee colonies have collapsed or disappeared.
近年來，許多蜂群已經(jīng)崩潰或消失。
A bee colony collapse occurs when a majority of the bees in a colony disappear and leave behind the queen.
當(dāng)蜂群中的大多數(shù)蜜蜂消失并留下蜂王時，就會發(fā)生蜂群崩潰。
Some beekeepers have reported losing 30 to 90 percent of their colonies.
一些養(yǎng)蜂人報告說蜂群里失去了 30% 到 90% 的蜜蜂。
This loss of bee colonies can cause significant problems for farmers who depend on them to pollinate their crops.
蜂群的喪失會給依賴蜂群授粉的農(nóng)民帶來嚴(yán)重的問題。
In some parts of the world，a shortage of bees has increased the cost of renting bees by up to 20%.
在世界某些地區(qū)，蜜蜂短缺使租用蜜蜂的成本增加了 20%。
There are several possible causes for bee colony collapse.
蜂群崩潰有幾種可能的原因。
One possible cause is the use of new pesticides.
一種可能的原因是使用了新的殺蟲劑。
Other possible causes include infections from viruses, genetic factors, and malnutrition.
其他可能的原因包括病毒感染、遺傳因素和營養(yǎng)不良。
Changing weather patterns may also play a role as summers get hotter and winters get colder.
隨著夏季變熱和冬季變冷，不斷變化的天氣模式也可能發(fā)揮作用。
These changes in weather may weaken the bees, making it more difficult for them to fight infections.
天氣的這些變化可能會削弱蜜蜂的力量，使它們更難抵抗感染。
Whatever the cause of colony collapse，it's important to understand that many parts of our world are interdependent.
無論殖民地崩潰的原因是什么，重要的是要了解我們世界的許多地方都是相互依存的。
Changes that affect one species may have serious effects on other species.
影響一個物種的變化可能會對其他物種產(chǎn)生嚴(yán)重影響。
A change to our environment can start a chain of events that is difficult to predict.
我們環(huán)境的改變可能會引發(fā)一系列難以預(yù)測的事件。
In any complex system such as the Earth's environment, small changes can have unforeseen consequences.
在地球環(huán)境等任何復(fù)雜系統(tǒng)中，微小的變化都會產(chǎn)生不可預(yù)見的后果。
The danger of unforeseen consequences is something we all need to understand better.
我們都需要更好地理解不可預(yù)見后果的危險。
(The earth's environment is an extremely complex system.)
地球環(huán)境是一個極其復(fù)雜的系統(tǒng)。
（In addition to making honey, honeybees help many plants reproduce.)
除了制造蜂蜜，蜜蜂還幫助許多植物繁殖。
