The current sharp decline in commercial honeybee populations has been attributed to the same viral and bacterial infe...

shunhe on July 10, 2020

Hi @kassidee,

Thanks for the question! So let’s think about what this stimulus is telling us. We’re told that commercial honeybee populations are going down, and that’s because of the same viral and bacterial infections/pesticide poisonings/mite infestations that have devastated them in the past. And we’re then told that there’s likely a long-ignored underlying condition, which is inbreeding, since breeding practices have limited genetic diversity in order to maximize pollinating efficiency.

Now we’re asked for an assumption that this argument requires. And clearly, it’s something that’s going to link the idea of genetic diversity to the fact that the honeybee populations are declining. Now take a look at (E). It tells us that the lack of genetic diversity can make honeybees more vulnerable to adverse conditions, which would them make the populations lower. This seems pretty good, and we can test it by negating (E) and seeing if the argument stands without it. Let’s say that lack of genetic diversity can’t make honeybees more vulnerable to adverse conditions. Then the argument falls apart, since inbreeding would lead to genetic diversity, but that wouldn’t make the bees more vulnerable, so we can’t link the inbreeding with the population declines then. So the argument falls apart without (E), which makes it a necessary assumption.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have. And good luck on Tuesday!