The bee population has been dwindling for quite some time. Since the 1940s, the bee population has been reduced by more than 60%. It’s estimated that if all the bees died, humans would only have a matter of years left before we too, went extinct.
The bees are essential for pollinating a large portion of our food. Data from the UN’s food and agriculture organization shows that the amount of bee dependent crops had increased 300% over the past 50 years. Despite the increase in bee dependent pollination, honeybee colonies are weaker than they have been in the past.
Species of wild bees, such as bumblebees, are suffering from a loss of flowering habitat, the use of toxic pesticides and, increasingly, the climate crisis.
–Loss of bees causes shortage of key food crops, study finds
A US study, done by Royal Society, has shown that the lack of bees in agricultural areas results in lower crop yield. The study examined seven different crops and 131 crop fields in 13 different US states. The study showed that crops that had more bees had significantly higher crop production than those without.
‘The trends we are seeing now are setting us up for food security problems,” Winfree said. “We aren’t yet in a complete crisis now but the trends aren’t going in the right direction. Our study shows this isn’t a problem for 10 or 20 years from now – it’s happening right now.’
–Rachael Winfree, an ecologist and pollination expert at Rutgers University
As we try to ramp up crop production by spraying pesticides, and planting large monocultural crops, we damage the bee population that is essential to healthy crop production. The Rusty Patched Bumblebee was one of the first bees placed on the endangered species list in 2017. Today there are eight species of honey bees that are on the endangered species list today.