World Agriculture Suffers From Loss of Wild Bees

Wild bees are better at fertilizing plants than bees managed by humans, and their falling numbers are hurting global agriculture, according to a study in the journal Science, reported on by Health24. Wild bees live in edge habitats, borders between grasslands and forests, which are increasingly targeted by development. The Canadian researchers examined 41 crop systems. “Paradoxically, most common approaches to increase agricultural efficiency, such as cultivation of all available land and the use of pesticides, reduce the abundance and variety of wild insects that could increase production of these crops,” reports Lawrence Harder of the University of Calgary, as reported by Health24. The managed bees were about half as effective as the wild bees. The international team of researchers collected data from 600 fields in 20 countries and conclude that bee habitat should be protected. – YaleGlobal