“Save the bees!” has become a popular phrase, seen on cute t-shirts, tote bags, and Instagram posts. Most people are taught to fear bees for their painful stings, but the attitudes of many have begun to shift. Bees provide countless services and benefits to us and the world’s ecosystems, and people are catching on. Honey bees’ capacity to convert tiny drops of nectar from thousands of flowers into pounds of honey is especially remarkable. One in three bites of food we take every single day can be traced back to the pollination services of native bees and honey bees. Beekeepers and researchers of these animals have known these wonders for millennia, and the bees they love continued to prosper until quite recently. 

     A mysterious occurrence, known to scientists as colony collapse disorder, is decimating bee populations. This rapid decline began recently when entire hives were dying. Several native bee species, too, are now near impossible to find. Research is ongoing, and the causes are complicated. What we do know is that human behavior is responsible. Pesticides, such as neonicotinoids have become so potent and effective against target agricultural insect pests, that they easily kill bees, too. The urbanization of once natural spaces, and damaging farming practices have eliminated so many flowering plants, that some bee populations struggle to find adequate food sources around them.

Signs such as this help protect apiaries from nearby farmers who apply pesticides. Photo credit: FieldWatch® apiary registry

    Invasive species, a by-product of human activity, also constantly threaten the survival of honey bee colonies. You may have heard of the infamous “murder hornets”. These giant hornets originating from east Asia have been introduced to the United States. The threat they pose to honey bees is serious, as just a few hornets can kill tens of thousands of bees in a couple of hours. These are just the latest of species whose introduction to foreign ecosystems is very dangerous! 

Three Giant Asian Hornets at the entrance of a honey bee colony, prepared for attack. Photo credit: Satoshi Kuribayashi/Minden Pictures

Bees face enormous challenges that are too easy to overlook amid the struggles of 2020. However, there are immense consequences at stake and things people can do about it, besides buying that cute T-shirt. Throughout this term, I will explore some of the biggest threats to bees, and explain the actions and changes anyone can make to protect our precious pollinators.

“Bee hotels”, such as this, provide nesting habitat for many wild bee species. They are easy to make and place outside. Photo credit: tektur (Shutterstock)