Threats for bees

We’ve all heard that bees are in decline from several sources, be it the news or one of David Attenborough’s documentaries. In this blogpost (link) we explain why bees and other pollinators are so important for us, but many people don’t know what factors affect our bee population.

The biggest reason the decline of bees has been the growing use of intensive farming methods including the use of pesticides. In the past 60 years 97% of native grassland has been lost to farming and urban development, taking away safe habitat and lowering the diversity of food sources for the bees. Certain pesticides used in agriculture have also had a devastating effect on bee populations in that they influence their navigation skills, their foraging activities, and their reproduction instincts. Herbicides have a similarly negative effect on bees because they destroy natural wildflowers that bees need to feed on at different times of the year.

Another big problem for the bees is the climate change that we suffer the consequences from just as much as our buzzing friends. The shift in seasons and the increase in temperature causes a disbalance between bee activity and food availability for the bees. Some plants might not have started flowering by the time the bees emerge out of their hives after the winter months because of the warmer temperatures. This shift in seasons also disrupts the bees’ nesting behaviour and makes foraging for food a growing struggle, because change in flowering times of plants means that the food for the bees becomes less which in turn also means less pollination of the plants.

These are only some of the reasons why we’ve already lost 13 bee species to extinction and another 35 show up on the list of endangered species. Local councils and farmers are introducing certain measures to make up for past mistakes and to try and make our urban areas and countryside more attractive to bees.