Will bees survive climate change? Scientists have doubts

We already know that climate change won’t necessarily mean blooming orange trees in our gardens. This process unfolds in ways that are difficult to predict. That’s a big problem for pollinators, which are losing their habitats and access to nectar. Will bees be able to adapt to these changes?

Droughts, floods, habitat loss – small insects, big problems

The impact of pesticides on bee health and population numbers is already fairly well understood. However, large-scale monoculture farming brings another serious consequence – insects have a poor and nutritionally limited diet. This makes them more vulnerable to diseases and parasites that devastate their bodies. Beekeepers, in turn, cannot help them, as parasitic mites are controlled with formic acid, which in high heat kills bees too – complain American breeders in a report prepared by AP News.

Jennie L. Durant, an ecologist from UC Davis, emphasizes that climate change brings an even greater risk – habitat loss. This process can happen in two ways: suddenly, as a result of extreme weather events, and gradually, due to rising average temperatures in a given area. The first situation occurred in the U.S., where, according to Durant, droughts in 2021–2022 caused beekeepers to lose 50 to even 70 percent of bee colonies. Climate change doesn’t just mean prolonged periods without rain – floods and hurricanes, like the one in 2022 in Florida that destroyed 400,000 hives, also harm insects.

Climate change brings chaos to bee life

Climate change does not always mean a steady rise in temperature – more often, it manifests as unstable weather conditions and the loss of seasonal patterns. This phenomenon is particularly harmful to bees. One example is the challenges faced by winter bees – worker bees hatched in the fall, whose job is to survive the cold months and raise the first spring generation.

Due to weather anomalies, these insects become active too early. On warm days, they leave the hive in search of food that isn’t yet available, and after a sudden temperature drop, they often die from cold. This phenomenon threatens not only individual bees but also the health of entire colonies.

A study published in 2020 in the journal Emerging Topics in Life Sciences found that climate change disrupts the previous synchronization between plant blooming and the emergence of pollinators. In conditions of phenological balance, bees and other pollinating insects became active when plants offered the most nectar and pollen. Now, plants are increasingly blooming earlier than usual – before pollinators appear in the environment. As a result, insects lose access to valuable food sources, and plants are not effectively pollinated. This phenomenon is observed in both honeybees and many species of wild pollinators.

No honey? That’s just the tip of the iceberg

Habitat loss and decreased availability of floral resources due to climate change are not just problems for pollinators. They also have real consequences for people – in terms of both food security and the economy. Difficulties in honey production or its rising price are just the most visible effects. Pollinators play a vital role in agriculture. According to estimates by IPBES (the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), the global economic value of insect pollination exceeds 500 billion dollars annually.

It is estimated that about one-third of crop plant species that form the basis of our diet depend to varying degrees on the activity of pollinating insects. Research by scientists from Michigan State University published in Current Opinion in Insect Science indicates that declining pollinator numbers may lead to reduced yields of crops such as almonds, cherries, apples, and blueberries. In the United States, a significant portion of commercial hives is used specifically to pollinate these crops.

Bees search for strategies

A study published in 2024 in the journal PNAS sheds light on how bees cope during heatwaves. It was shown that their body temperature can be up to 15°C higher than the surrounding air temperature. This thermoregulatory mechanism allows them to remain active in varied climatic conditions.

However – as researchers from the University of Wyoming point out – climate change is making bees’ thermoregulatory abilities insufficient. On the hottest days, bees adjust their wing movements: they reduce frequency while increasing wingbeat force, which helps dissipate excess heat. It has also been observed that bees actively search for cooler, shaded areas within the hive.

Although these behaviors increase their chances of survival, they reduce the time and efficiency of foraging, which may affect the health of the entire colony. Moreover – as noted by Dr. Margarita López-Uribe from Pennsylvania State University – bees’ ability to adapt to heat is negatively affected by their overall health. If an insect is malnourished, poisoned by pesticides, and weakened by disease, it has a much harder time coping with high temperatures than a healthy individual – the researcher explains.

---

main photo: Dmitry Grigoriev/Unsplash