For the first time, the European Union recognized wild honey bees as endangered. This is stated in the latest update of the IUCN Red Book – the official global database on the conservation status of species, reports Science Alert.
People have been keeping bee colonies for thousands of years, starting with the ancient Egyptians, but modern beekeeping has had the greatest impact on the species. Since the early 2000s, home colonies in Europe have been experiencing significant losses, and beekeepers are recording a crisis. Scientists are working with beekeepers to find out the causes and minimize the damage.
Because of these problems, it is believed that the entire species is under threat, but the situation is more complicated. Cultivated colonies are cared for and intensively studied, while wild bees have been little studied, especially in Europe.
Europe has one of the lowest densities of free-living colonies in the world, as domestic hives far outnumber wild ones, and recent analysis has shown that their numbers are declining. The researchers combined this data with information on habitat loss, invasive parasites, disease and human hybridization, and concluded that wild bees are indeed in a difficult position.
In the Red Book, their status has been updated to “ endangered in the European Union”. However, the overall status in Europe remains uncertain due to the lack of data for the Balkans, Baltic countries, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
