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Course:CONS200/2025FL1/Bees in mind: conservation challenges, their impacts and potential solutions

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Bees are very important for ecosystems and for the food humans eat. They help pollinate many crops as about a third of the food comes from pollination by bees[1]. However, bees are declining in population due to habitat loss, climate change and destructive farming practices. This causes problems for our food supply, the environment and farmers who depend upon pollinated crops. To protect bees, people can plant bee-friendly gardens, use fewer pesticides and care for natural habitats. By helping bees, we are protecting our environment and making sure there is enough food for the future.

Importance of Bees in Ecosystems and Agriculture

Honey Bee Taking Pollen.

Did you know that agricultural crops that account for 35% of global food production depends on animal pollination, with bees having a significant role?[2] The honey bee Apis mellifera, or Western honey bee pollinates an abundance of agricultural crops[3] and provides many ecosystem services. Ecosystem services include provisioning (like food), regulating (processes that maintain the climate, floods), and cultural services (recreation, well-being)[4]. One of the provisioning services that bees provide is honey. Honey is used for human consumption as well in other species diets, like bears. Another provisioning service is bee’s wax used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals[5].

The main regulating service that bees provide is pollination. Pollination is the transfer of male pollen to female gamete. During fertilization, a new zygote is formed, which then develops into a seed and grows to become a mature plant, a scientific process inevitable for crop yield[5]. Honeybees are the most famous and economically valuable[2] pollinators worldwide, with their fast transportation of 24 km/hr and wing speed of 200 beats per second. Did you know around 30,000 bees can pollinate an acre of fruit trees[6]?

Another ecosystem service that bees also provide are cultural services such as Api-tourism which is a form of tourism that has different recreational activities. Api-tourism fosters knowledge from bee farmers to students and common people[5].

Mowing in curved, "sinus" pattern

A study in Belgium suggested that mowing grasslands in curved, “sinus” patterns, instead of straight rectangular blocks helped wild bees and butterflies pollination. Over 3 years, the sinus-mowed sites showed more bee and butterfly appearances. This mowing method leaves some patches uncut and changes the pattern each cycle, creating a mix of short and tall vegetation that provides continuous flowers and nesting areas [7].

As for maintenance, the regime supports both common and rare pollinator species and is a great way for land owners to increase pollinator biodiversity in agricultural areas[7].

Additionally, creating uncut refuges on a relatively small fraction of a hay meadow can quickly and efficiently promote pollinating insects such as wild bees during the following year, which is likely to enhance an essential ecosystem service[8].

Another advantage of the uncut refuge option, is that it does not affect hay production to the same extent, given that only a fraction of the meadow remains unmown. The hay extracted from the non-refuge area would furthermore be of overall better quality because the timing of mowing operations can take place earlier, i.e. closer to the period of forage quality peak. A systematic implementation of this measure with extensive hay meadows across the agricultural matrix might efficiently boost wild bee populations and bee communities[8].

Health, Biodiversity and Sustainability

Wild and managed bees play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity and the recovery and restoration of degraded habitats. The loss of biodiversity contributes to food and energy insecurity, increases vulnerability to natural disasters, and decreases the level of health worldwide[9].

Wild and managed bees play two key roles, the first is that they act as useful bioindicators to monitor biodiversity levels, and the second is that they play a key role in biodiversity conservation, recovery and restoration of degraded habitats and in the ecosystem services supply[9].

The dynamics of interconnection between health, biodiversity, and sustainability were studied in “Cellulose Park” Rome, Italy[9].

The results showed that plant diversity was enhanced from the year 2018 to 2020 resulting in total number of taxa increase from 31 to 38. This change was mainly due to the presence of honeydew which was absent in 2018, but was present in high content in 2020[9].

Landscape Management Practices

In general the following practices can be utilized to help native pollinator densities by increasing habitat carrying-capacity[10]:

  1. Increase nesting opportunities with the particular nesting needs of different pollinating species in mind. These may include gaps in surface vegetation or modifying cultivation practices retaining neighboring forest nesting sites for ground-nesting bees or leaving dead wood providing holes for cavity-nesting bees[10]
  2. Increase forage by providing suitable diverse floral resources in the local area and the broader landscape during the season of pollinator activity. Crop rotation using these flowering plants should be especially applied in intensified uniform agricultural landscapes and may also help to enhance other ecosystem services such as soil improvement, pest management by breaking cycles of damaging pests of erosion control[10]
  3. Enhance opportunities for colonization by connecting habitats with flowering strips and hedgerows around arable fields, small forest patches or even single trees as 'stepping stones'[10]
  4. Reduce the risk of population crashes in the field and the surrounding habitats by foregoing use of broad-spectrum insecticides during bloom, especially those with systematic or micro-encapsulated formulations that can contaminate nectar and pollen[10]

Importance of Genomic Tools in Bee Conservation

In the times of declining populations of bees, in the last several decades some genomic tools have emerged. These molecular and population genetic tools have become important in improving some of the applications of conservation genetics[11].

For example, the bee biologists can benefit from these tools to evaluate relevant demographic parameters of species conservation such as the status of species, quantification of genetic diversity, gene flow, and bee population size[11]. One of the main ideas of conservation genetics is that small, isolated populations have greater risk of extinction than large bee population sizes. The mechanism behind this loss can be explained with the reduced alleles from genetic drift and inbreeding amongst close relatives[11].

DNA

Another way to further identify genomic features associated with differing life-history traits and their relationship to the susceptibility of bees to anthropogenic disturbances is through sequencing genomes of bees across different life-history gradients like diet specialists versus diet generalists; solitary versus semi-social versus social for example[11].

Genomics is changing the way scientists and the community approach pollinator conservation. By studying the DNA of bees, scientists can identify populations that are either at risk or more resilient, which helps guide conservation efforts. Research into the gene activity of bees (called transcriptomics) helps scientists understand the different stressors harming bee health and how they fight these challenges. Metagenomics, which looks at the microorganisms that interact with bees, can reveal the types of bacteria and other organisms living in and around bees, as well as their foraging habits and dietary needs. When combined, these approaches can create a powerful toolkit to improve bee health, such as breeding for more resilient bees, developing fast diagnostic tools, creating probiotics for bees, restoring flowers for better nutrition, or even considering genetic changes to make bees stronger[12].

Key drivers of Bee decline

Habitat Loss

The loss of bees has been impacted by habitat loss, as habitat and landscape changes can affect any pathogens. A location that is seen as important for pathogens to transmit are flowers because they attract pollinators, and they do this by infecting the flower itself and colonizing it. When there is a loss of any floral resources, it forces the pollinators to feed on less flower options because there aren’t as many available. This increases the inter-species and intra-species contact on the flowers[13] because whether it is the same or different pollinator, they all compete for the very few floral resources, which means many of them will go on the same plants, making it a lot more frequent for diseases to happen. This means that the reduction in floral resources can also decrease the local wild bee diversity[13] because flowers produce pollen, and without that, bees will not be able to survive.

One of the global trends in habitat loss is seen in the United States, specifically in the Midwest and Great Plains. This was an area that was dominated by an expansive grassland natural region, which has been something that has gone through a major shift because of the global agricultural expansion. In the last few decades, there has been many acres of grassland that have converted to row cropping, involving growing things like vegetables and corn[14].

Therefore, this has created monoculture landscapes, offering a lack of nutritional diversity for bees. This leads to weaker immune systems and diseases in their population. Bees need a diverse amount of pollen from different plant species, so that they can gain the nutrients and vitamins they need to be healthy, However, when they are in a monoculture area, they are only provided with a limited amount of nutrients[15]. As well, native prairies, which were biologically diverse, have also been converted into monocultural fields, making the fields that flower only bloom for a short period of time in the season. This leads to the result that both bees and native prairies experience not having enough food for a long period of time. This lack of food causes bees to become malnourished[15]. When there are fewer bee workers, their whole colony suffers, and this results in a decline in their health.

After the 2000s, a lot of the natural areas were converted quickly into crop fields. The reason for this was because the economic drivers caused higher prices for the crops, which made farming more profitable[14]. They changed the policy, so that governments that used to pay farmers, now had to leave some of the land as a natural habitat, which means that the farmers were not able to keep those natural areas anymore. This impacts bees because this meant that the natural areas remaining became really isolated. This made it hard for the bees to find pollen, as they would have to travel a lot further, now that all the areas were spread apart. Not only is it hard, but it also requires a lot more energy from the bees. When the bees get tired from travelling so much, they become slower, making it easier for them to be exposed to predators in the fields[14].

Climate Change

Weather conditions are extremely important, especially in pathogens because it needs to be a certain temperature for pathogens to complete their cycle. This leads to a loss of bees as it will be harder for bees to reproduce in temperature changes. If any of the pathogens need temperatures that are outside the range of the bees, it could lead to the extent of their life cycle stopping since it needs to be the specific temperature range for bees in order for them to survive. Additionally, if the environment is extremely warm for a number of days, there will be an increase in the amount of extinction rates, which also affects the chances that the bees have to colonize in a new area[16]. If the location that they are currently in doesn't support all the resources they need, that is another reason they might not be able to survive.

Climate Change affecting the Amegilla

Increasing the intensity of climate events has been an important global trend happening in Australia. Over the past decade, Australia has experienced many dramatic climate shifts, which meant that these interferences were changing ecosystems faster than pollinator species adapting[16].

Since Australia's temperatures have been rising, that has been affecting bee populations. One of the Australian bees called the Amegilla, depends on the flourishing of either different native floras or the eucalyptus. The Amegilla, a blue-banded bee, is a solitary bee that has recently been spread throughout many islands of the Pacific. This meant that the spread of these species have affected local pollinator communities and their interactions with host plants[17]. Nonetheless, during more humid conditions, it has caused the flowers to die. When bees appear based on certain temperatures, they are usually lacking sufficient food, which then leads to weaker colonies.

Another example is the 2019-2020 "Black Summer" bushfires that showed the consequences of climate change for bees. The fires burned over 24 million hectares, which ended up destroying the forest where there were many native bee species living in that area[18]. Many of the solitary bees, including the Amegilla, depended on specific nesting spots in this forest, which meant that the bees could not have nesting sites anymore because the sites they used have been completely destroyed by the fires. After this happened, bees were struggling to survive because they had a lack of food, and had to try and support each other and rebuild their population in the forest[19]. This example shows that climate change can turn into a disaster at any time, and not only can it extremely affect bee populations, but also their supply of food and their homes.

Overall, Australia showed how climate change is a worldwide problem, that can happen anywhere to bee populations, and not just shifting their ecosystems. They can mess up the life cycle of plants, and how plants either flower earlier or later in the season because of temperatures. As well, as previously talked about, the bushfires limited pollen resources for bees and their availability for nutrition[19].

Parasites

Varroa destructor on honeybee host

One of the main parasites that has played a key role in the loss of bees is the Varroa destructor. This parasite feeds onto the tissues of bees, which then causes damage to their health. They also transmit a virus called the Deformed wing virus (DWV), and this virus is boosted by virus replication, which affects the loss of bees[20]. In New Zealand, there has been a recent arrival of this parasite, which provides people with insights in the relationship between the bees, Varroa, and the virus. The data showed that the virus has different dynamics that relate to the Varroa infestation, which results in a shift in virus infections towards bees, making DWV the main infection[20].

Before the 2000s, New Zealand was actually one of the few places in the world that was free from the Varroa destructor. However, later in that year, the Varroa mite was detected on the North Island, because of contaminated beekeeping equipment. Ever since the Varroa destructor spread in the country, it showed that it was already too hard because the parasite had already entered the ecosystem. The Varroa destructor was exclusively destructive in New Zealand because of many different factors. New Zealand has relied a lot on honeybee colonies for pollination, which resulted in the fact that the mites had an opportunity to spread between the colonies[21].

Controlling Varroa Mites with Technological and Management Strategies

The Varroa mite is a major threat to honeybee colonies, but several technological and management methods can help control its impact:

  • Technological solutions: Just recently, the Environment Protection Agency in the U.S. introduced new technology to reverse the attack of the Varroa mite on honeybees. This tech is called RNAi-based model to stop the mites' reproduction. The technology is basically a simple pouch with microscopic holes that is placed in a hive and worker bees can then feed on. The liquid product is completely safe to feed on by worker bees and queen bees[22]
  • Monitoring & Records: Label hives, track mite counts, brood, and treatments; test mite levels regularly; treat only when necessary[23].
  • Cultural & Biotechnical Controls: Use mite-resistant bees, install screened bottom boards, remove drone brood, create brood breaks, try small-cell combs[23].
  • Soft Chemical Treatments: Apply organic acids or oils during low-brood periods, following label instructions.
  • Hard Chemical Treatments: Use synthetic miticides only when needed and rotate chemicals to prevent resistance[23].
  • Integrated Approach: Combine cultural, mechanical, and chemical methods in an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan, treat before winter bees develop, and re-check mite levels to ensure success[23].

Ecological and Socio-economic impacts of Bee Decline

Apis mellifera

Many agricultural crops depend on pollinators, especially bees, for producing the seeds and fruits humans consume, which they also affect their quality and quantity[1]. About one third of our food supply comes mostly from bee pollinated crops[1]. The production and diversity of agriculture depends on honeybees and wild bee species[1] which is why this decline threatens our food supply. Pollinators provide a wide range of benefits to society such as securing a reliable and diverse seed and fruit supply, sustaining populations of wild plants that underpin biodiversity and ecosystem function[24]. Their decline threatens global food security, reduces crop diversity and quality, but also endangers livelihoods of farmers and beekeepers, especially those in low-income nations that rely on pollinator dependent exports like coffee and coca[25][24]. Bees are the most important group of pollinators and without pollination services an estimate of 5-8% of global production will be lost which would affect human diets. Especially that many pollinator dependent crops are the principal source of many micronutrients including vitamins A and C, so their loss could result in a substantial rise in the global rate of preventable diseases[24].

Most Successful Bee Species

The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is considered one of the most successful and widely important bee species in the world. To evaluate the importance of western honey bees, researchers analyzed 80 plant-pollinator interaction networks and pollination effectiveness data from 34 plant species[3]. They found that the honey bees made up about 13% of all flower visits that were recorded, which made them the most frequent floral visitors overall[3]. The study also found that for about 5% of the plant species in these networks, the honey bees were the only pollinators recorded[3]. The study reported that western honey bees appeared in about 89% of the networks within their native range and 61% of the networks in the regions where they were introduced by humans[3]. While many plants still rely mainly on other pollinators, the western honey bees play a major role in pollination across many regions[3].

Conservation Challenges and Barriers

Agricultural landscape for bees

Lack of Nutritional Diversity

In order to stay healthy, bees need a variation in diet between nectar and pollen. All the nutrients they get are from different plants, so that is what boosts their immune system. When they have this balanced diet, it helps them get more energy[26].

However, since industrial agriculture relies a lot on monocultures, and agricultural landscapes are controlled by a single crop, they show a lack of nutritional food source for bees, making a decline in their health[27]. First of all, one type of plant does not have all the nutrients and pollen a bee needs, so it does not have enough vitamins, and bees will have to find many different types of plants to help reach a good health level. If the bee becomes weak, because of their diet, then they are not able to produce the right enzymes to fight off all the viruses and pesticides. Additionally, the survival of the bee’s offspring is really affected by how much pollen they take, because if the female bees provide a nest that is really low quality, it affects their eggs, making them a lot smaller, which then leads to a decline in the population[26].

In order to overcome this barrier, economic incentives will be needed so that some of the land can be devoted to hedgerows. Farmers will need to maximize their crops on the field, since using the flowering plants will lead to an economic loss[27].

Competition between Managed and Wild bees

Managed bees, which are non-native in a significant part of the world, are usually in fields for pollination. They have the ability to collect all the pollen, and consume all the pollen the native bees need. Their colonies outcompete the wild bees, which are native, and end up using their floral resources[28]. This is really harmful in their habitat because since the wild bees already have a lot less resources than managed bees, it adds to the stress that the managed bees are still taking their pollen. They then lack the nutrition they need, and end up having problems with their immune system. This results in a decline of bees as less bees are able to survive[29]. As well, managed bees are transported, usually over long distances by truck, so because they are trapped in such a small space, they usually end up carrying a lot more pathogens, such as the Varroa mite. These viruses then end up getting to the wild bee population, since in order to get the pollen, they need to share the flowers. Since the wild bees do not have any resources to protect themselves, they end up getting infected too[29].

Farmers rely a lot on these bees, so if something happened to the managed bees, such as diseases or any viruses, the crops they use would break down, and it would impact the food supply chains that need them. This is not good because having more managed bees means there will be more losses of wild bees since they usually take over their habitat[29].

Long-term Monitoring difficulty

It is extremely hard to track the population of thousands of bees in different species, and if we do not have the long-term data, it is hard to find any new virus that is affecting the decline in that bee species. Bee populations are always fluctuating every year, so to find out what the problem is that is resulting in the decline of bees, scientists are required to have a lot of data from many years. Some of the factors that affect this include food availability, however, it is hard to know if there is anything affecting it over the past years. If scientists only have a limited amount of data, it is hard to find the correct conclusions, as every year is different[30].

If scientists do not find out which bee species are declining the fastest over the years, or which habitat is the most serious, it is extremely hard to make sure if the resources are misused or not[30].

Sustainable and Policy Based solutions

Sustainable strategies for bee conservation rely on integrating habitat restoration, sustainable agriculture, and strong policy frameworks. Habitat restoration efforts provide essential foraging and nesting habitats for wild bees leading to higher bee diversity and abundance in both urban and agricultural landscapes. These efforts include replanting native wild flowers, maintaining hedgerows, and restoring degraded lands[31]. Managing road verges and corridors as pollinator habitats helps reconnect fragmented ecosystems and create vital routes for pollinators[32]. Sustainable agriculture practices, including ecological intensification and agroforestry, foster pollinators by expanding crop diversity, minimizing land use, and investing in ecological infrastructure by protecting, restoring and connecting natural or seminatural habitats [33]. Reducing pesticide dependence and use with Integrated Pest Management (IPM), risk assessments to define safe uses of pesticides and creating stricter policies to reduce pesticide use will also mitigate risks to both managed and wild pollinators[33]. On a policy level, the International Pollinator Initiative and the Conservation on Biology Diversity and regional efforts such as Bee Red Lists have created frameworks for coordinated conservation action [34]. Locally, community engagement through pollinator gardens, educational programs, and citizen science raises awareness and encourages conservation action [35]. Together these ecological, regulatory, and community driven approaches form a strategic path towards reversing the decline of pollinators and ensures the safety of our food security [36].

Community and Educational Projects

In Lower Mainland, B.C., community gardens, parks, and educational programs are creating pollinator-friendly spaces and teaching people how to support bees.

Clayton Rec Center

Pollinator Turf Alternative at Clayton Rec Centre

A local example of a community project in Surrey, British Columbia Canada is at the Clayton Rec Centre. The city built turf alternative gardens where the seed blends like clover blends combine with native wildflowers and grasses that are drought-tolerant. These pollinator alternative turf gardens are friendly for pollinators to come and pollinate the flowers[37].

Furthermore, another pollinator habitat project was created at the same site by installing three horticulture beds with mostly native plant species[37].

Edgewood Park

Edgewood Park contains a 330m2 pollinator meadow beside to a new planted biodiversity corridor. The pollinator meadow is situated on a south-facing, sandy mound. Selected plant species copy vegetation found on coastal sandy dunes[37].

Other City of Surrey Parks

Pollinator friendly projects in many city parks are being implemented with native planting in shade tree wells. These native wildflowers such as yarrow and nodding onion are planted in shade tree wells for increasing frequency of pollinator visits[37].

List of Community Gardens in Surrey, B.C.

- Rotary Club of surrey at Cloverdale United Church

- Darts Hill Garden Park

The Honey Bee Express - Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society

- Fraser Valley Heritage Rail

At this location in Surrey, the "Honey Bee Express" is a refurbished speeder which originally was used by maintenance people on the railway. They built passenger cars for it to pull and therefore it becomes the "Honey Bee Express" riding adventure[38].

- Historic Stewart Farm

- Ocean Park Community Orchard

- PLOT: A Community Land Art Project[39]

A blog post on a community garden in Newton, Surrey: https://beespeakersaijiki.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-plot-creative-community-garden-in.html

- Queen Elizabeth Meadows[40]

Queen Elizabeth Meadows features more than 2.9 hectares (7.1 acres) of rolling meadow grassland. The park also offers a community garden and plenty of open green space. It was put forward by students from Queen Elizabeth Secondary School. In May 2017, the garden was built with help from students and local residents[40].

Community Garden at UBC

University of British Columbia, UBC

The Agronomy Garden at UBC, built in July 2017, is a student run community garden at the Vancouver campus near Faculty of Forestry. It was established in conjunction with many staff, faculty and students involved with the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, including programs such as "Food System" at the University Farm and "Roots of the Roof"[41].

Planted here are an array of vegetables and fruits planted for the community, a three-bin compost system, plantings of new perennial flower bulbs and a pollinator patch[41].

Honey Bee Centre

Honeybee Centre in Surrey, B.C. is adding green spaces and pollinators into their community, providing education about honeybees and native pollinators, and informing about the ways the community can support bees from their own backyard[42].

Did you know you can rent bees at Honey Bee Centre? Every year local farmers come to Honeybee Centre and they loan out colonies of busy bees to pollinate more than ten different fruit crops for the entire bloom cycle. By using bees to pollinate fields, growers can expect up to 50% more fruit[42].

These bees can pollinate eleven different fruit crops: apples, blueberries, currants, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, kiwi, pumpkin, zucchini, and squash. The bees from Honey Bee Centre are usually busy for the entire bloom cycle which is around four weeks long[42].

Beekeeping

The Centre also educates the local community on beekeeping benefits, pollination and bee products. Examples include educational fieldtrips, home learning, virtual learning and bus tours with emphasis on the following goals[42]:

  1. To share with everyone the amazing world of honeybees through education and hands-on activities and explorations
  2. To explain the important relationship between humans and honeybees
  3. To educate students about the integral role honeybees have in our food web
  4. To involve students and help them explore the importance of pollinators as a keystone species in the earth’s ecosystem

Conclusion and Future Directions

Bees are important to both ecosystems and human well being, contributing to biodiversity, food production, and global food security through pollination and other ecosystem services. Yet, the continued decline of bee populations caused by habitat loss, pesticide use, parasites, and climate change creates a major environmental and socioeconomic threat. Current conservation efforts such as habitat restoration, sustainable farming and policy creation both at global and regional level have shown progress but still need more development and consistency across different regions.

Moving forward, the future of bee conservation depends on integrated, science driven, and community supported action. Advancing International policy frameworks like the International Pollinator Initiative, and encouraging local conservation through education, urban pollinator gardens, and grassroots programs can connect global goals with effective and efficient local impacts. Continued research on genomic tools will also help deepen our understanding of bee genetics. In conclusion, protecting bees requires shared efforts from governments, farmers, scientists, and communities working all together to protect and rebuild habitats where bees can thrive.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Aizen, M. A., Garibaldi, L. A., Cunningham, S. A., & Klein, A. M. (2009). How much does agriculture depend on pollinators? lessons from long-term trends in crop production. Annals of Botany, 103(9), 1579-1588. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp076
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Vaissière, Bernard E; Cane, James H; Dewenter, Ingolf Steffan; Cunningham, Saul A; Kremen, Claire; Tscharntke, Teja (October 2006). "Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 274 (1608): 303 – via Royal Society Publishing Journals Online.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 James Hung, Keng-Lou; Kingston, Jennifer M.; Albrecht, Matthias; Holway, David A.; Kohn, Joshua R. (January 2018). "The worldwide importance of honey bees as pollinators in natural habitats". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285 (1870): 1 – via Royal Society Publishing Journals Online.
  4. ↑ Papa, Giulia; et al. (February 2022). "The Honey Bee Apis mellifera: An Insect at the Interface between Human and Ecosystem Health". Biology. MDPI. 11 (2): 2 – via PubMed Central (PMC). Explicit use of et al. in: |last2= (help)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Aryal, Sunil; Ghosh, Sampat; Jung, Chuleui (July 2020). "Ecosystem Services of Honey Bees; Regulating, Provisioning, and Cultural Functions" (PDF). Apiculture. 35 (2): 121 – via ResearchGate. line feed character in |title= at position 64 (help)
  6. ↑ "Bee Facts". Canadian Honey Council. 2018. Retrieved Oct 16, 2025.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Grassland study suggests varied, curved mowing pattern may support bees and butterflies better than conventional block mowing". Energy, Climate change, Environment. May 15, 2025. Retrieved Oct, 25, 2025. |first= missing |last= (help); Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Buri, Pierrick (January 2014). "Promoting Pollinating Insects in Intensive Agricultural Matrices: Field-Scale Experimental Manipulation of Hay-Meadow Mowing Regimes and Its Effects on Bees". Plos one. 9 (1): 6.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Durazzo, Alessandra (September 2021). "Bee Products: A Representation of Biodiversity, Sustainability, and Health". PubMed. 11 – via National Library of Medicine.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Maria, Alexandra-Maria (October 2006). "Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 274 (1608): 303–313 – via Biological Sciences.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lozier, Jeffrey D.; Zayed, Amro (October 2016). "Bee conservation in the age of genomics". Conservation Genetics. 18: 713–729 – via Springer Nature Link.
  12. ↑ Grozinger, Christina M. (February 2020). "Improving bee health through genomics". Nature review genetics. 21: 277–291.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Meeus, Ivan; Pisman, Matti (2018). "Interaction effects of different drivers of wild bee decline and their influence on host–pathogen dynamics". ScienceDirect.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Graves, Tabitha A; Janousek, William M; Gaulke, Sarah M; Nicholas, Amy C; Keinath, Douglas A (June 2020). "Western bumble bee: declines in the continental United States and range‐wide information gaps". Ecosphere. 11(6) – via ProQuest.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cohen, Hamutahl; Smith, Gordon P.; Sardiñas, Hillary; Zorn, Jocelyn F.; McFrederick, Quinn S. (October 2021). "Mass-flowering monoculture attracts bees, amplifying parasite prevalence". Proceedings: Biological Sciences. 288(1960): 1–8 – via JSTOR.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Soroye, Peter; Newbold, Tim; Kerr, Jeremy (February 2020). "Climate change contributes to widespread declines among bumble bees across continents". Science. 367(6478): 685–688.
  17. ↑ Dubos, Nicolas; Geslin, Benoît; Jourdan, Hervé; Renault, David; Zakardjian, Marie (June 2025). "Contrasting effects of climate and anthropogenic change on future invasion risk of a solitary bee Amegilla pulchra". Journal of Environmental Management. 385 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  18. ↑ Stalenberg, Eleanor; Lunney, Daniel; Moon, Chris (November 2024). "'It's dangerous to put a number on them'. Media coverage of koalas during the 2019–2020 'Black Summer' bushfires in Australia". Pacific Conservation Biology. 30(6) – via ConnectSci.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Dorey, James B.; Rebola, Celina M.; Davies, Olivia K.; Prendergast, Kit S. (September 2021). "Continental risk assessment for understudied taxa post-catastrophic wildfire indicates severe impacts on the Australian bee fauna". Global Change Biology. 27(24): 6551–6567 – via Wiley.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Mondet, Fanny; de Miranda, Joachim R.; Kretzschmar, Andre; Conte, Yves Le; Mercer, Alison R. (August 2014). "On the Front Line: Quantitative Virus Dynamics in Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies along a New Expansion Front of the Parasite Varroa destructor". PLOS Pathogens.
  21. ↑ Sainsbury, James; Nemeth, Tomi E; Baldo, Maria; Jochym, Mateusz; Felman, Crystal (September 2022). "Marker assisted selection for Varroa destructor resistance in New Zealand honey bees". PLoS One. 17(9) – via ProQuest.
  22. ↑ Fitchette, Todd (November 3, 2025). "New product seeks to reverse honeybee colony collapse". farmprogress.com.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 "Methods to Control Varroa Mites: An Integrated Pest Management Approach". PennState Extension. October 2025.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Potts, S. G., Imperatriz-Fonseca, V., Ngo, H. T., Aizen, M. A., Biesmeijer, J. C., Breeze, T. D., Dicks, L. V., Garibaldi, L. A., Hill, R., Settele, J., & Vanbergen, A. J. (2016). Safeguarding pollinators and their values to human well-being. Nature (London), 540(7632), 220-229. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20588
  25. ↑ Murphy, J. T., Breeze, T. D., Willcox, B., Kavanagh, S., & Stout, J. C. (2022). Globalisation and pollinators: Pollinator declines are an economic threat to global food systems. People and Nature (Hoboken, N.J.), 4(3), 773-785. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10314
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Donkersley, Philip; Rhodes, Glenn; Pickup, Roger W; Jones, Kevin C; Power, Eileen F (Dec 2017). "Nutritional composition of honey bee food stores vary with floral composition". Oecologia. 185(4): 749–761 – via ProQuest.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Dolezal, Adam G.; St. Clair, Ashley L.; Zhang, Ge; Toth, Amy L.; O'Neal, Matthew E. (Dec 2019). "Native habitat mitigates feast–famine conditions faced by honey bees in an agricultural landscape". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 116(50): 25147–25155.
  28. ↑ Iwasaki, Jay M.; Hogendoorn, Katja (January 2022). "Mounting evidence that managed and introduced bees have negative impacts on wild bees: an updated review". Current Research in Insect Science. 2 – via DOAJ.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Weaver, James R.; Ascher, John S.; Mallinger, Rachel E. (July 2022). "Effects of short-term managed honey bee deployment in a native ecosystem on wild bee foraging and plant–pollinator networks". Insect Conservation and Diversity. 15(5): 634–644 – via Royal Entomological Society.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Pilling, Edward; Campbell, Peter; Coulson, Mike; Ruddle, Natalie; Tornier, Ingo (Oct 2013). "A Four-Year Field Program Investigating Long-Term Effects of Repeated Exposure of Honey Bee Colonies to Flowering Crops Treated with Thiamethoxam". PLoS One. 8(10) – via ProQuest.
  31. ↑ Tonietto, R. K., & Larkin, D. J. (2018). Habitat restoration benefits wild bees: A meta-analysis. The Journal of Applied Ecology, 55(2), 582-590. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13012
  32. ↑ Phillips, B. B., Wallace, C., Roberts, B. R., Whitehouse, A. T., Gaston, K. J., Bullock, J. M., Dicks, L. V., & Osborne, J. L. (2020). Enhancing road verges to aid pollinator conservation: A review. Biological Conservation, 250, 108687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108687
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Summary for policymakers of the thematic assessment on pollinators, pollination and food production. (2016). Biota Neopropica/Biota Neotropica,  https://doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611201600010001
  34. ↑ BYRNE, A., & FITZPATRICK, U. (2009). Bee conservation policy at the global, regional and national levels: Bee conservation. Apidologie, 40(3), 194-210.
  35. ↑ Baldock, K. C. R., Goddard, M. A., Hicks, D. M., Kunin, W. E., Mitschunas, N., Osgathorpe, L. M., Potts, S. G., Robertson, K. M., Scott, A. V., Stone, G. N., Vaughan, I. P., & Memmott, J. (2015). Where is the UK's pollinator biodiversity? the importance of urban areas for flower-visiting insects. Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences, 282(1803), 20142849-20142849. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2849
  36. ↑ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). (2016). The assessment report on pollinators, pollination and food production: Summary for policymakers. Retrieved from https://files.ipbes.net/ipbes-web-prod-public-files/spm_deliverable_3a_pollination_20170222.pdf 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 "Pollinator Conservation". City of Surrey. 2024.
  38. ↑ "The Honey Bee Express".
  39. ↑ https://theplot.ca/bees/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "Queen Elizabeth Meadows".
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 "The Agronomy Garden - UBC Vancouver".
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 https://www.honeybeecentre.com/visit/community-bee-garden/. Missing or empty |title= (help)


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