Researchers issue warning after observing concerning change in bee behavior: 'Critical'

Researchers in Australia have found a surprising change in bees' behavior in response to global climate change. 

What's happening?

A new study from Monash University in Melbourne analyzed native bees and the non-native European honeybee. The research team wanted to better understand how climate change and habitat loss have impacted the insects.

They measured the bees' responses to light under different temperature conditions. The honeybees had quicker responses overall, but they were also much more affected by the varying temperatures. When it was warmer, they reacted more slowly, while the native bees maintained consistent response times throughout. 

"The finding that some bees changed their behavior under the influence of certain stressors, but not others, highlights the complexity of how multiple interacting environmental threats impact pollinators," said Dr. Scarlett Howard, one of the co-authors of the paper, per a summary published on Phys.org. 

Why is it concerning?

Bees are a crucial pollinator that helps keep ecosystems in balance. They are some of the most important species to be threatened by climate change because the environment relies on them for so much. Without bees, human food supply could fall apart.  

"Understanding how bees respond to environmental change is critical because their behavior underpins pollination, which supports healthy ecosystems and food production. Our results help fill a gap in knowledge about how temperature and urban pressures interact to influence pollinator behavior," Howard said.

Researchers are studying bees all over the world and finding similar behavioral changes due to warming temperatures. 

In the mountains of Switzerland, bumblebees are waking up from hibernation too early in the season, which affects their pollination capacity. Bees also now beat their wings harder in order to keep themselves cool on hotter days, and this drains their energy and slows their pollination activity. 

What's being done about it?

The study said that more research is needed on this topic, like how global changes affect pollinators specifically. If scientists and conservationists don't know how or why species behavior changes, they cannot find solutions or support where it's necessary.

The authors described their study as "a crucial first step in highlighting the unique ecology and behaviour of non-eusocial bees compared to the extensively studied honeybees," calling for larger samples of bees in more diverse geographic locations in future studies. 

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