Managed Bees Versus Wild Bees? It’s Not That Simple in South Africa AOC Eye

There’s widespread concern about the global decline of honey bees and the associated loss of pollination services.

The honey bee is the most important single species for crop pollination. This is because they are easily managed and can be moved around to perform pollination in different food crops. It’s estimated that one third of the food we consume each day relies on pollination. And this is mainly provided by bees.

Managed Vs Wild Bees

In parts of the world, there are two distinct groups of bees: wild populations that aren’t domesticated and that roam freely, and managed bees which are enclosed in hives and kept for honey production and renting out for commercial crop pollination.

Some new research findings are sounding the alarm that managed honey bees have the potential to harm wild pollinators. This research suggests that managed honey bees are an agricultural species – more like livestock as they are domesticated and actively managed by beekeepers – and can harm other wild pollinators.

This is particularly true if there are a high number of hives which can lead to an increase in competition for nectar and pollen resources. In these kinds of scenarios wild pollinators come off second best.