Pollen resource use by managed honey bees and unmanaged wild bees

A bumble bee collecting red pollen
 from an Asphodel

By Boni et al.

Bees play an essential role in maintaining biodiversity, but increasing numbers of managed honey bees, particularly when combined with beekeeping practices that do not adequately consider wild pollinator conservation, may negatively affect wild bees, especially in sensitive ecological contexts.

We investigated the pollen collected by managed honey bees and unmanaged wild bees on three islands of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park (Italy) to better understand how they share floral resources.

Our results showed that honey bees and wild bees shared pollen sources in 58.7% of the comparisons, although the degree of overlap was generally low to moderate, with high overlap occurring in only 16.7% of cases.

Interestingly, higher honey bee densities were associated with lower pollen overlap, suggesting that wild bees may increasingly rely on alternative floral resources, potentially in response to competition with managed honey bees.

Although these findings do not directly demonstrate competition, they highlight the importance of precautionary, low-intensity beekeeping management and further research to better understand these interactions and support wild bee conservation in protected areas.

Read the scientific article in JPE HERE!