Are Commercial Honeybees Making Wild Bees Sick?"

Question

by Berly McCoy

If human-managed bees and bee-friendly flowers are acting as hotspots for pathogens, keeping more bees and planting more flowers may be contributing to the steep losses in commercial pollinators seen in the U.S. each year, as well as fueling the decline of wild bees. The more that bees are transported and concentrated for larger-scale pollination events, the more opportunities for diseases to spread.

And it’s not just a one-way street.

“It’s likely the transmission is going both ways,” said Scott McArt, a pollinator ecologist at Cornell University who was not involved in the study. Even if diseases in commercial bees are eliminated, new infections from the wild bee population, which are known to harbor pathogens, could spill back into managed populations, making disease eradication even tougher than it is now.

From the urban gardener to the rural farmer, people are encouraged to grow “bee-friendly” plants.

Answer 1

The growing popularity of “bee-friendly” gardening initiatives, while well-intentioned, may inadvertently create environments where both commercial and wild bees face increased health risks. This intersects with the current trajectory of declining bee populations, both managed and wild, which raises concerns about maintaining biodiversity and crop pollination services.

Berly McCoy's article highlights a critical issue: the concentration of commercial honeybees for agricultural purposes can facilitate the spread of pathogens, which may adversely affect not only the managed populations but also their wild counterparts. As these pollinators are grouped together and moved around for pollination services—whether for almonds in California or berries in the Pacific Northwest—they can act as vectors for diseases that might otherwise remain contained in a more natural population structure.

Moreover, Scott McArt's insights emphasize the dynamic nature of disease transmission between managed and wild bee populations. The potential for pathogens in wild bees to infect the commercial varieties adds another layer of complexity to the challenges faced by beekeepers and ecologists alike. As the lines blur between these populations, efforts to manage bee health will need to consider the broader ecological impacts and the intricate web of interactions that exists between different bee species.

In an effort to mitigate these risks, it becomes increasingly important to maintain genetic diversity in bee populations, enforce measures to limit the spread of diseases, and promote the health of wild bee communities alongside practices that support commercial beekeeping. This might include more sustainable management practices that account for the interactions between wild and managed bees and careful monitoring of health indicators across populations.

Ultimately, while encouraging the growth of bee-friendly flowers can benefit pollinators, it is crucial to approach this strategy with an awareness of the potential public health implications for both wild and commercial bees. Balancing these practices with measures aimed at disease prevention and ecological resilience will be vital for the future of pollinator populations.