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The South American nation of Chile has been experiencing a severe drought for the last 13 years.
在过去的13年里，南美国家智利一直在遭受严重的干旱。
This extreme lack of water has led to fewer flowers and, as a result, fewer honeybees.
这种极度缺水的状况导致花朵减少，进而导致蜜蜂减少。
Poisonous chemicals used to kill insects harmful to crops, called pesticides, also hurt bees.
用来杀死对农作物有害的昆虫的有毒化学物质，即杀虫剂，也会伤害蜜蜂。
Beekeepers in Chile are concerned.
智利的养蜂人很担心。
Carlos Peralta and his brother Marco are beekeepers.
卡洛斯·佩拉尔塔和他的弟弟马可是养蜂人。
In the central Chilean town of Colina, Carlos has seen the number of his honeybees decrease sharply.
在智利中部的科林纳镇，卡洛斯发现他的蜜蜂数量急剧下降。
He said he has lost about 300 hives since the start of November 2021.
他说，自2021年11月初以来，他已经失去了大约300个蜂箱。
A hive can hold tens of thousands of bees.
一个蜂箱可以容纳数万只蜜蜂。
Losing so many bees left Peralta with a difficult choice.
失去这么多蜜蜂让佩拉尔塔面临一个艰难的选择。
He could keep his remaining 900 hives alive with manufactured nectar, or he could move the hives to a place where there are more flowers.
他可以用人造花蜜让剩下的900个蜂箱里的蜜蜂存活，或者他可以把蜂箱移到一个有更多花的地方。
"If the bees die, we all die…The bee is life," Carlos said.
卡洛斯说：“如果蜜蜂死了，我们就都完了……蜜蜂就是生命”。
He was describing the important job that bees have: to pollinate plants in the wild and for food growers.
他描述了蜜蜂的重要工作：为野生植物和食物植株授粉。
As a major exporter of fruit, successful pollination of fruit trees is important for Chile.
作为水果的主要出口国，果树成功授粉对智利至关重要。
So Carlos decided to move his beehives about 1,000 kilometers to the south, to a place called Puerto Montt.
因此，卡洛斯决定将他的蜂箱向南移约1000公里，搬到一个叫蒙特港的地方。
However, his brother Marco chose to stay in Colina with his bees rather than join Carlos in the south.
然而，他的弟弟马可选择和他的蜜蜂一起留在科林纳，而不是和卡洛斯一起向南移。
Marco said he feared losing bees to pesticides if he moved.
马可说，他担心如果他向南移的话，蜜蜂就会死于杀虫剂。
An expert on biodiversity for Latin America in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (or FAO) is Andres Gonzalez.
安德烈斯·冈萨雷斯是联合国粮食及农业组织（粮农组织）拉丁美洲生物多样性专家。
He identified four problems that are reducing populations of pollinating insects:
他指出了四个导致授粉昆虫数量减少的问题：
the use of pesticides and fertilizers
杀虫剂和化肥的使用
the growing of only one crop in an area
在一个地区只种植一种作物
droughts caused partly by climate change
部分由气候变化引起的干旱
and poor use of water
以及对水的不良使用
These problems, in addition to parasites, have hurt bee populations around the world.
除了寄生虫，这些问题还伤害了世界各地的蜜蜂数量。
An FAO study in 2018 found that Chile's imports of pesticides had grown by 460 percent over the previous 20 years.
粮农组织2018年的一项研究发现，智利的农药进口量在过去20年里增长了460%。
Beekeepers blame this increase for their losses.
养蜂人将损失归咎于这一增长。
Chile's honey exports have dropped over the past four to five years.
智利的蜂蜜出口量在过去的四五年里有所下降。
Carlos Peralta said, "You enter an orchard with your bees and you don't know if you'll come out with living bees or dead ones.
卡洛斯·佩拉尔塔说：“你把蜜蜂放进果园，你不知道出来的是活蜜蜂还是死蜜蜂。
His brother Marco has been feeding his bees with sugary water and other nutrients.
他的弟弟马可一直在给他的蜜蜂喂糖水和其他营养物质。
However, this substitute for nectar leaves the bees unable to produce honey.
然而，这种花蜜的替代品使蜜蜂无法产蜜。
"The bees grow weak with sugar water…," said Mario Flores.
马里奥·弗洛雷斯说：“蜜蜂喝了糖水后会变得虚弱。”
He is a beekeeper in the southern town of Temuco.
他是南部城镇特穆科的一名养蜂人。
Teresa Sarmiento is president of a beekeepers association in Colina.
特雷莎·萨米恩托是科林纳一个养蜂人协会的主席。
She compared feeding bees sugar water to "giving a sweet to a hungry child."
她把给蜜蜂喂糖水比作“给饥饿的孩子吃糖”。
Before the drought, beekeepers would use the substitute food during the winter months.
在干旱之前，养蜂人会在冬季的几个月里使用这种替代食物。
But now they use it almost all year.
但现在他们几乎全年都在使用它。
Gonzalez of the FAO said the substitute food lacks protein the bees need to develop their bodies and nervous systems.
粮农组织的冈萨雷斯说，这种替代食物缺乏蜜蜂发育身体和神经系统所需的蛋白质。
It also leaves them at more risk of disease.
这也使它们面临更大的疾病风险。
I'm Anna Matteo.
安娜·马特奥为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
