Editing Bee (section)

=== As commercial pollinators ===

{{See also|List of crop plants pollinated by bees|Pollinator decline|Pesticide toxicity to bees}}

Bees play an important role in [[pollination|pollinating]] [[flowering plant]]s, and are the major type of [[pollinator]] in many [[ecosystem]]s that contain flowering plants. It is estimated that one third of the human food supply depends on [[pollination]] by insects, birds and bats, most of which is accomplished by bees, whether wild or domesticated.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yang |first1=Sarah |title=Pollinators help one-third of world's crop production, says new study |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/10/25_pollinator.shtml |publisher=UC Berkeley |access-date=29 June 2015 |date=25 October 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709060248/http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/10/25_pollinator.shtml |archive-date=9 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/wild-bees-found-to-be-just-as-important-as-honeybees-for-pollinating-food-crops-10324450.html |title=Wild bees just as important as domesticated bees for pollinating food crops |author=Connor, Steve |date=16 June 2015 |newspaper=The Independent |quote=Wild bees have become as important as domesticated honeybees in pollinating food crops around the world due to the dramatic decline in number of healthy honeybee colonies over the past half century, a study has found. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906052404/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/wild-bees-found-to-be-just-as-important-as-honeybees-for-pollinating-food-crops-10324450.html |archive-date=6 September 2017}}</ref>

Since the 1970s, there has been a general decline in the species richness of wild bees and other pollinators, probably attributable to stress from increased parasites and disease, the use of pesticides, and a decrease in the number of wild flowers. Climate change probably exacerbates the problem.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goulson |first1=Dave |author1-link=Dave Goulson |author2=Nicholls, Elizabeth |author3=Botías, Cristina |author4=Rotheray, Ellen L. |year=2015 |title=Bee declines driven by combined stress from parasites, pesticides, and lack of flowers |journal=Science |volume=347 |issue=6229 |pages=1255957 |doi=10.1126/science.1255957|pmid=25721506 |s2cid=206558985 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This is a major cause of concern, as it can cause biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation as well as increase climate change.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why bees are climate heroes |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/why-bees-are-climate-heroes |website=World Wildlife Fund |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>

[[pollination management|Contract pollination]] has overtaken the role of honey production for [[beekeeper]]s in many countries. After the introduction of [[Varroa mites]], [[feral]] honey bees declined dramatically in the US, though their numbers have since recovered.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Loper |first1=Gerald M. |last2=Sammataro |first2=Diana |last3=Finley |first3=Jennifer |last4=Cole |first4=Jerry |title=Feral honey bees in southern Arizona, 10 years after varroa infestation |journal=American Bee Journal |date=2006 |volume=146 |pages=521–524}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rangel |first1=Juliana |last2=Giresi |first2=Melissa |last3=Pinto |first3=Maria Alice |last4=Baum |first4=Kristen A. |last5=Rubink |first5=William L. |last6=Coulson |first6=Robert N. |last7=Johnston |first7=John Spencer |title=Africanization of a feral honey bee (Apis mellifera) population in South Texas: does a decade make a difference? |journal=Ecology and Evolution |date=2016 |volume=6 |issue=7 |pages=2158–2169 |doi=10.1002/ece3.1974|pmid=27069571 |pmc=4782243 |bibcode=2016EcoEv...6.2158R }}</ref> The number of colonies kept by beekeepers declined slightly, through [[urbanization]], systematic pesticide use, [[Acarapis woodi|tracheal]] and ''[[Varroa]]'' mites, and the closure of beekeeping businesses. In 2006 and 2007 the rate of attrition increased, and was described as [[colony collapse disorder]].<ref name="Penn">{{cite news|title=Honey Bee Die-Off Alarms Beekeepers, Crop Growers and Researchers|url=http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/07Jan/HoneyBees.htm|publisher=Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences|date=29 January 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517154313/http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/07Jan/HoneyBees.htm|archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref> In 2010 invertebrate iridescent virus and the fungus ''[[Nosema ceranae]]'' were shown to be in every killed colony, and deadly in combination.<ref>Johnson, Kirk (6 October 2010) [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007221509/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited |date=7 October 2010 }}{{cbignore}}. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Eban |first=Katherine |url=https://money.cnn.com/2010/10/08/news/honey_bees_ny_times.fortune/index.htm |title=What a scientist didn't tell the New York Times about his study on bee deaths |publisher=CNN |date=8 October 2010 |access-date=20 August 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019235428/https://money.cnn.com/2010/10/08/news/honey_bees_ny_times.fortune/index.htm |archive-date=19 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Iridovirus and Microsporidian Linked to Honey Bee Colony Decline |author1=Jerry J. Bromenshenk |author2=Colin B. Henderson |author3=Charles H. Wick |author4=Michael F. Stanford |author5=Alan W. Zulich |author6=Rabih E. Jabbour |author7=Samir V. Deshpande |author8=Patrick E. McCubbin |author9=Robert A. Seccomb |author10=Phillip M. Welch |author11=Trevor Williams |author12=David R. Firth |author13=Evan Skowronski |author14=Margaret M. Lehmann |author15=Shan L. Bilimoria |author16=Joanna Gress |author17=Kevin W. Wanner |author18=Robert A. Cramer Jr |date=6 October 2010 |journal=PLOS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0013181 |volume=5 |issue = 10|pages=e13181 |pmid=20949138 |pmc=2950847|bibcode=2010PLoSO...513181B |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1545516/Honey-bees-in-US-facing-extinction.html "Honey bees in US facing extinction"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906233434/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1545516/Honey-bees-in-US-facing-extinction.html |date=6 September 2008 }}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' (London), 14 March 2007.</ref> Winter losses increased to about 1/3.<ref>Benjamin, Alison (2 May 2010) [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/may/02/food-fear-mystery-beehives-collapse Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204232310/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/may/02/food-fear-mystery-beehives-collapse |date=4 December 2013 }}. ''[[The Observer]]'' (London).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509111955.htm |title=Beekeepers Report Continued Heavy Losses From Colony Collapse Disorder |publisher=Sciencedaily.com |date=12 May 2008 |access-date=22 June 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100731084827/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509111955.htm| archive-date= 31 July 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> ''Varroa'' mites were thought to be responsible for about half the losses.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/4011954-hiver-fatal-pour-la-moitie-des-colonies-d-abeilles-en-suisse.html | title=Hiver fatal pour la moitié des colonies d'abeilles en Suisse | publisher=Radio Télévision Suisse | date=22 May 2012 | access-date=22 May 2012 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112095201/http://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/4011954-hiver-fatal-pour-la-moitie-des-colonies-d-abeilles-en-suisse.html | archive-date=12 November 2012}}</ref>

Apart from colony collapse disorder, losses outside the US have been attributed to causes including pesticide seed dressings, using [[neonicotinoid]]s such as [[clothianidin]], [[imidacloprid]] and [[thiamethoxam]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Storkstad, Erik |s2cid=206597443 |title=Field Research on Bees Raises Concern About Low-Dose Pesticides |journal=Science |page=1555 |volume= 335 |date=30 March 2012|doi= 10.1126/science.335.6076.1555|issue= 6076 |pmid=22461580|bibcode=2012Sci...335.1555S }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/130116 |title=EFSA identifies risks to bees from neonicotinoids &#124; European Food Safety Authority |website=Efsa.europa.eu |date=20 September 2012 |access-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728203252/http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/130116 |archive-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> From 2013 the [[European Union]] restricted some pesticides to stop bee populations from declining further.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.3news.co.nz/EU-moves-to-protect-bees-from-pesticides/tabid/1160/articleID/296028/Default.aspx | work= 3 News NZ | title= EU moves to protect bees | date= 30 April 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130729145145/http://www.3news.co.nz/EU-moves-to-protect-bees-from-pesticides/tabid/1160/articleID/296028/Default.aspx | archive-date= 29 July 2013}}</ref> In 2014 the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] report warned that bees faced increased risk of extinction because of [[global warming]].<ref>Gosden, Emily (29 March 2014) [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/10730667/Bees-and-the-crops-they-pollinate-are-at-risk-from-climate-change-IPCC-report-to-warn.html Bees and the crops they pollinate are at risk from climate change, IPCC report to warn] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829051520/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/10730667/Bees-and-the-crops-they-pollinate-are-at-risk-from-climate-change-IPCC-report-to-warn.html |date=29 August 2014 }} ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London). Retrieved 30 March 2014</ref> In 2018 the European Union decided to ban field use of all three major neonicotinoids; they remain permitted in veterinary, greenhouse, and vehicle transport usage.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |title=EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/27/eu-agrees-total-ban-on-bee-harming-pesticides |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 April 2018}}</ref>

Farmers have focused on alternative solutions to mitigate these problems. By raising native plants, they provide food for native bee pollinators like ''[[Lasioglossum vierecki]]''<ref name="Farming for native bees">{{cite web |url=http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=LNE07-261&y=2011&t=1 |title=Farming for native bees |date=2011|website=Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education |access-date=4 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930233624/http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=LNE07-261&y=2011&t=1 |archive-date=30 September 2015|last=Kuehn|first=Faith }}</ref> and ''[[Lasioglossum leucozonium|L. leucozonium]]'',<ref name="An Assessment of Non-Apis Bees as Fruit and Vegetable Crop Pollinators in Southwest Virginia">Adamson, Nancy Lee. [http://www.step-project.net/NPDOCS/Adamson_NL_D_2011.pdf An Assessment of Non-Apis Bees as Fruit and Vegetable Crop Pollinators in Southwest Virginia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120230411/http://www.step-project.net/NPDOCS/Adamson_NL_D_2011.pdf |date=20 November 2015}}. Diss. 2011. Web. 15 October 2015.</ref> leading to less reliance on honey bee populations.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Peponapis pruinosaCane-12.JPG|[[Squash bee]]s (Apidae) are important pollinators of [[Cucurbita|squashes]] and [[cucumber]]s.
File:A bee covered with pollen.jpg|Bee covered in pollen
</gallery>