Why are bees under threat of extinction?

Bee communities, both wild and managed, have been declining over the last half-century. Scientists have found that bees are dying from a variety of factors; pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, and climate change.

Though many of these causes are interrelated, the bottom line is that humans are largely responsible for the two most prominent causes: pesticides and habitat loss.

Let's look at seven ways we can help reverse the bee's recent demise and prevent a bee extinction.

2. Build a bee hotel

Like human hotels, by building a bee hotel, you’ll be supplying accommodation, refreshment, and even breakfast for bees. Building a bee hotel is an easy way to save your local bees. Follow this step-by-step guide on how to build and where to put a bee hotel.

If possible, recycle and reuse scrap pieces of wood or furniture, plastic bottles, and old garden canes for your bee hotel. If you have nothing at home, visit your local waste tip to source your materials.

4. Build a beehive

You can make a huge impact on the health of your local ecosystem by starting a beehive. Having your own beehive can help you learn about bee biology, bee ecosystems, and improve the environment around you. Plus, you get the added benefits of bee products such as raw honey and beeswax, as well as the satisfaction and joy derived from working with a hive. Contact your local beekeeping club for more information.

6. Sponsor a beehive

If you’d like a hive but don’t have the time nor space, why not help fund new hive installations? The Honeybee Conservancy in the U.S. and The British Beekeeping Association are working to install stocked honeybee hives and solitary bee homes in communities across the United States and the UK respectively. By sponsoring/adopting a beehive, you aren’t only helping to save the bees, but improving communities – beehives provide training and learning opportunities for both young and old, and the bees can help improve the local ecosystem. Such sponsorship programs provide bees and equipment to help people safely set up, maintain and observe such on-site bee sanctuaries at schools, community gardens, and green spaces.

Fast, Furry and (not so) Furious Bee Facts

• There are 20,000 species of bees, In Europe there are around 2,000 bee species with 276 being recorded in the UK alone.
• 90% of bees are solitary bees and live underground. Some are called “Mining bees” for how they burrow to build their underground nests.
• Honeybees along with other social bees have a special place on their legs to hold pollen, known as pollen baskets. Solitary bees do not have this morphological trait so when they fly pollen falls from their legs, pollinating as they go.
• Bees, only sting if they feel threatened and it’s only the female who can sting. The ‘sting’ is really an ovipositor that has seen modification thanks to evolution. Approximately 500 bee species don’t even have a sting.
• Some solitary bees take one year to complete their life cycle. The larva cocoons in the nest over winter eating pollen left by the mother. For the complete picture, see the life cycle of a solitary bee via www.biodiversityireland.ie
• It is estimated that one third of bee populations are at risk of extinction as a direct result of human activity.