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Honey bees and wild bees

There are around twenty thousand bee species and only a handful make honey. Conflating the two has produced a great deal of well-meant conservation effort aimed at the one species that needs it least.

PollinationReviewed 2026-08-03

The numbers

The two groups compared
GroupHoney beesWild bees
Species9, of which 1 is kept worldwideAround 20,000
Social?Eusocial, perennial coloniesAround 90% are solitary
Make honey?YesAlmost none do
Managed?Yes — livestockAlmost none
Population trendManaged colonies increasing globallyMany species declining
NestingCavities, wax comb70% in the ground; most of the rest in cavities and stems

Why wild bees matter for pollination

For many crops wild bees are better pollinators than honey bees, and for some they are the only ones that work. Bumblebees buzz-pollinate; honey bees cannot, which is why tomatoes, blueberries and cranberries depend on them. Mason bees carry dry pollen that sheds readily and fly in cooler weather, which makes them several times more effective per individual on orchard fruit.

A large analysis of crop systems worldwide found that wild insect visitation improved fruit set consistently, and that adding honey bees did not substitute for it. The two groups do different work.

Where honey bees can be a problem

  • Forage competition. A hive is fifty thousand foragers placed into a fixed nectar supply. In areas with high hive density and limited forage, competition with wild bees is measurable.
  • Pathogen spillover. Viruses associated with managed colonies have been detected in wild bumblebees, and commercial bumblebee rearing has been implicated in wild bumblebee declines in North America.
  • Conservation misdirection. Money and attention going to hives is money not going to habitat.

None of this makes beekeeping wrong. It makes hive density a question that needs an answer in a given landscape, particularly in cities and on conservation land.

What actually helps wild bees

  1. Forage across the whole seasonNot a bee-friendly flower in June, but something in flower from February to November.
  2. Nesting habitatBare sunny soil for ground nesters, dead wood and hollow stems for cavity nesters. This is what almost every garden lacks.
  3. Reduced pesticide useParticularly avoiding insecticide on anything in flower.
  4. Habitat protectionUnimproved grassland, heathland and brownfield land support far more species than gardens can.
  5. Not adding hivesKeeping honey bees is agriculture. It is a reasonable thing to do and it is not conservation.

The claims on this page

Every substantive claim is placed on a tier, and the top two tiers must also state what they are not claiming.

Established evidence

Supported by systematic reviews, meta-analyses or clinical/regulatory guidance. The claim would survive a careful reader checking it.

Established evidence

Wild insect pollinators improve crop fruit set in ways that adding honey bees does not replicate.

A synthesis across many crop systems worldwide found that wild insect visitation improved fruit set consistently, while honey bee visitation supplemented but did not substitute for it. The mechanisms are understood: buzz pollination, cooler-weather flight and different pollen-carrying behaviour are things honey bees do not do or do poorly.

What this does not claim: This does not claim honey bees are unimportant to agriculture — they are the only pollinator that can be supplied in bulk on demand, which matters enormously. It claims that they do not replace what wild bees contribute.

  • Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production — Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (2016) · Systematic review Link
Established evidence

The western honey bee is not an endangered species.

Global managed honey bee colony numbers have risen over recent decades according to FAO statistics. Colony losses in individual regions and seasons are real and economically serious, and they are a livestock management problem rather than a species conservation one. The species is among the most widely distributed insects on earth.

What this does not claim: This does not claim beekeepers face no difficulties, nor that colony losses are unimportant. It claims only that the western honey bee is not at risk of extinction and is not the animal conservation concern refers to.

  • FAOSTAT production and trade statistics — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations · Government statistics
  • Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production — Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (2016) · Systematic review Link

Sources

  • Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production — Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (2016) · Systematic review Link
  • FAOSTAT production and trade statistics — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations · Government statistics
  • The Bees of the World — Johns Hopkins University Press (2007) · Textbook
  • Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide

How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.

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