Bees facing new threats, putting our survival and theirs at risk
University of Reading
Warzones, microplastics and light pollution pose serious new risks to bees and other pollinators over the next decade, according to a landmark report on today’s World Bee Day.
The report from Bee:wild, a new science-led global campaign to save pollinators, identifies the top 12 emerging threats that could accelerate pollinator losses within the next 5-15 years, according to ten of the world’s leading experts. It also outlines steps we can take to protect them and reverse the decline.
Pollinators like bees, butterflies, some birds and bats are vital to nature and our food supply with almost 90% of flowering plants and over three-quarters of the world’s staple crops depending on them. But habitat loss, pesticides, climate change and invasive species have caused their severe decline, including the extinction of some bee species.
A wave of new threats is adding further pressure, according to the report: ‘Emerging Threats and Opportunities for Conservation of Global Pollinators.’
These include:
War and conflict, such as the war in Ukraine, forcing countries to grow fewer crop types and leaving pollinators without diverse food throughout the season.
Microplastic particles contaminating beehives across Europe, with testing from 315 honey bee colonies revealing synthetic materials like PET plastic in most hives.
Artificial light at night reducing flower visits by nocturnal pollinators by 62% and inhibiting the crucial role moths and night insects play in pollination.
Antibiotic pollution potentially contaminating beehives and honey, and affecting the behaviour of pollinators, such as reducing their foraging and visits to flowers.
Air pollution affecting their survival, reproduction and growth.
Pesticide cocktails weakening pollinators who increasingly face a dangerous mix of different pesticides, particularly in developing countries.
More frequent and larger wildfires, destroying habitats and making recovery harder.
The University of Reading’s Professor Simon Potts, lead author and chair of Bee:wild’s Scientific Advisory Board, says: “Identifying new threats and finding ways to protect pollinators early is key to preventing further major declines."
He continues: “By acting early, we can reduce harm and help pollinators continue their important work in nature and food production. Various conservation opportunities already exist and more are emerging. This is not just a conservation issue. Pollinators are central to our food systems, climate resilience, and economic security. Protecting pollinators means protecting ourselves.”
The report also outlines some threats that unintentionally stem from climate actions, which could be improved to protect biodiversity at the same time. Planting a mix of flowering trees as well as non-flowering fast-growing trees for carbon capture would restore pollination opportunities. Avoiding pollinator-rich areas and restoring habitats after mining for car battery materials would also help reduce the impact of mining in the long-term.
These steps are among the 12 that the report outlines for pollinator protection. Ranked in order of novelty and impact, the top five are:
Stronger laws limiting antibiotic pollution that harms bee health
Transitioning to electric vehicles to reduce air pollution affecting pollinators
Breeding crops with enhanced pollen and nectar for better pollinator nutrition
Creating flower-rich habitats within solar parks
Developing RNAi-based (Ribonucleic acid) treatments that target pests without harming beneficial insects.
Protecting stingless bees - which are important for pollination in the tropics - by creating urban gardens, rewilding and protecting natural habitats is another solution. Using AI to help track pollinators is another opportunity.
Dr Deepa Senapathi, Head of Department of Sustainable Land Management at the University of Reading, is co-author of the report and Vice-Chair of Bee:wild Scientific Advisory Board.
She explains: “Meaningful action to protect bees is not a “nice-to-have” future aspiration - practical solutions that we can implement now already exist and more are emerging. The most promising opportunities are ones that tackle multiple problems at once. Focused and determined action could significantly slow and even reverse pollinator decline while creating environments that benefit both nature and people."
She adds: “It will take effort from everyone to address these threats. We need to maintain, manage and improve our natural habitats to create safe spaces for pollinators. Individual actions like providing food and nesting areas in our own back gardens can help in a big way. But policy changes and individual actions must work together so everything from gardens and farms to public spaces and wider landscapes can all become pollinator-friendly habitats.”
Eva Kruse, Executive Director of Bee:wild, which commissioned the report says: “We were already sounding the alarm on the decline of our pollinators, but this new report underlines that the range of threats are expanding. Rather than being filled with hopelessness, the purpose of the Bee:wild campaign is to fuel awareness, urgency and give everyone agency. There’s a lot we can all do to help save our pollinators, in our homes and everyday lives. Planting flowering plants to feed them, providing outdoor shelter and considering healthier diets like plant-based as well as pesticide-free, all matter a lot."
She adds: “It’s getting harder for our pollinators but we can all play a part in protecting them and building a sustainable future for all living things.”
Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Board Member of nature conservation organisation Re:wild - which is behind the Bee:wild campaign - provided the report’s foreword.
She says: "The choices we make today will shape the future - not only for pollinators, but for all life on Earth. Together, we can ensure that these remarkable species continue their vital work, sustaining the natural world that sustains us all.”
Article Title
Emerging Threats and Opportunities for Conservation of Global Pollinators
Article Publication Date
20-May-2025
‘Every single species is a unique product of evolution, like a work of art’: how Dr Kit Prendergast champions bees and biodiversity
Frontiers
image:
A bee (Megachile aurifrons) rests on a flower. Photo by Dr Kit Prendergast.
view moreCredit: Dr Kit Prendergast
What inspired you to become a researcher?
I’ve always had a passion for nature and biodiversity, ever since I was a child (David Attenborough was, and still is, an inspiration). After completing my Honors project on horse behavior and publishing a review on the role of digging mammals in Australian ecosystems, when it came to conducting my PhD, I knew I wanted to do something that would make a real difference to conserving biodiversity.
I love research – unlike many people, I loved to study at university. I always knew I wanted to become a scientist, to advance our knowledge about biodiversity and further our understanding of how nature, ecology, and evolution works, and how we can better protect and restore it.
Can you tell us about the research you’re currently working on?
Always working on many research projects! I’m working on developing a science-based framework for a pollinator strategy for Australia, exploring the ways by which citizens are introduced to and come to care about native bee biodiversity, describing new species of native bees, reviewing the design of seed production areas to support pollinators, and publishing the bee hotels to boost native bees after bushfires project. My current postdoctoral research is on estimating the role of canola variety, biogeographic region, farm management, surrounding landscape, and insect assemblages — including introduced Apis mellifera — in contributing to canola yield.
What role do native bees play in Australian ecosystems? Why is it so important to conserve them?
Native bees are so diverse, and they play different roles depending on the species. Some native species can perform pollination services that the introduced Apis mellifera cannot (eg buzz-pollination), while others have special relationships with native flora, having co-evolved with them in biogeographic isolation for thousands of years. Others host parasitoids and parasites, and some native bees are even kleptoparasites. Other native bees have important roles for Aboriginal Australians. A few species contribute to crop pollination. Finally, some have no ‘role’ per se (ie they are not great pollinators), but this doesn’t make them any less important for conservation – every single species is a unique product of evolution, and like a unique work of art, once lost, can never be replaced.
How can people help protect and support bee populations?
Raise awareness about native bees. Don’t keep honey bees in your backyard. Plant high proportions of native flowers, especially in the families Fabaceae and Myrtaceae. Protect and restore native habitat, be it from urbanisation, mining, or agriculture. Tackle climate change, for example by reducing or eliminating meat in your diets. Reduce pesticide use.
In your opinion, why is your research important?
Native bees are an incredible, diverse component of biodiversity, and through their ecological interactions, they influence the health and functioning of diverse ecosystems. Yet they are under-appreciated, underfunded, and under-researched. My research reveals what flowers they need, how to create nesting habitat for them, and the impact that high densities of an introduced bee species can have on their fitness.
Are there any common misconceptions about this area of research? How would you address them?
So many! The disconnect between the science of bees and public opinion always amazes me. Many people think that honey bees are threatened with extinction, whereas they are the most abundant, widespread bee on the planet. In many places, including Australia, they are either livestock or feral animals and can compete with indigenous fauna. There is an assumption that saving honey bees will help bees as a whole, but honey bees have very different ecologies and can outcompete native bees.
What are some of the areas of research you’d like to see tackled in the years ahead?
One of the biggest issues facing native bee research is a taxonomic impediment. There are at least 500 undescribed species of native bees, and then many genera don’t have keys, the descriptions written 100 years ago or more are very poor, and species have been described twice. Taxonomy and natural history (the ecology of species – what they forage on, their associations with other organisms, when they are active, where they nest) are terribly neglected and underfunded, but they are the backbone of good science.
Journal
Frontiers in Bee Science
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Animals
Article Title
Introduced honey bees (Apis mellifera) potentially reduce fitness of cavity-nesting native bees through a male-bias sex ratio, brood mortality and reduced reproduction
Article Publication Date
19-May-2025
Fitness fight: Native bees struggle against invasive honey bee
Curtin University
image:
A native Australian bee in a bee hotel. Picture - Dr Kit Prendergast
view moreCredit: Dr Kit Prendergast
New Curtin University research has revealed that high densities of European honey bees could be harming Australian native bees’ ‘fitness’ by reducing their reproductive success and altering key traits linked to survival.
The study, led by Adjunct Research Fellow Dr Kit Prendergast from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, found that honey bees not only dominate pollen resources but may also affect the fitness of native cavity-nesting bees – with concerning consequences for biodiversity.
Dr Prendergast said the study used specially designed wooden ‘bee hotels’ located in 14 urban bushland and garden sites in Perth, Western Australia, to assess how honey bee density influenced key indicators of native bee health and reproduction over two Spring-to-Summer bee seasons.
“Bee hotels are more than just a way to give bees a place to nest – they’re powerful research tools that let us measure how well native bees are surviving and reproducing in different environments,” Dr Prendergast said.
“We also studied 1000 native bee nests which provided valuable insights into the fitness of at least 25 species,” she said.
“In areas with higher honey bee densities, native bees produced fewer female offspring, had higher offspring mortality and the males that did emerge were smaller – all of which are signs of reduced fitness.”
Dr Prendergast said the research also looked at what types of pollen were being used by bees and found honey bees foraged from a wider range of sources, including exotic plants.
“In some conditions, greater overlap in pollen use was associated with lower offspring numbers in native bees,” Dr Prendergast said.
“This shows that honey bees are not as benign as some might think – they can negatively impact local ecosystems and potentially contribute to declines in native bee populations,” she said.
“These findings add to growing evidence that we need to manage honey bee densities carefully, especially in areas of high conservation value or where native pollinators are already under pressure from factors such as growing urbanisation.”
Dr Prendergast said future research should explore whether adjusting honey bee numbers or increasing the diversity of flowering plants could help reduce their impact on native bees.
The study was done as part of Dr Prendergast’s PhD research at Curtin and was supported by funding from the City of Stirling, the Australian Wildlife Society, Hesperia and the Forrest Research Foundation.
The full study ‘Introduced honey bees have the potential to reduce fitness of cavity-nesting native bees in terms of a male bias sex ratio, brood mortality and reduced reproduction’ is published in ‘Frontiers in Bee Science’ and can be accessed here: doi: 10.3389/frbee.2025.1508958
Journal
Frontiers in Bee Science
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
Animals
Article Title
Introduced honey bees have the potential to reduce fitness of cavity-nesting native bees in terms of a male bias sex ratio, brood mortality and reduced reproduction
Article Publication Date
19-May-2025
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