Honey bees play a crucial role in pollination, facilitating the sexual reproduction of numerous flowering plant and crop sciences, which enhance the world’s agricultural productivity, the conservation of its biodiversity and global food security. Honey bees throughout the world have experienced severe population declines in recent years due to various factors including parasite infestation and disease, pesticide applied indiscriminately, land development and habitat loss and inadequate diets coupled with climate change. The reports in recent months of unprecedented honey bee losses have cast serious concern on the continuity of these services with important implications for food production and the environment. This article reviews the environmental and economic value of honey bees, outlines some of the causes behind the global honey bee crisis and outlines some of the colony losses that have occurred recently. In addition, this framework provides actionable and evidence-based solutions to honey bee conservation, including restoration of their habitat, prevention and management of bee diseases, use of climate-resilient farming practices, as well as public engagement. The sustainability of honey bee conservation requires collaboration among farmers, beekeepers, scientists, policymakers and the public in supporting sustainable farming, biodiversity and long-term food security.
Saxena, A., Yadav, A.K., 2026. Why honey bee population is declining: Causes and solutions. Biotica Research Today 8(3), 51-54. DOI: 10.54083/BRT/08.03.26/51-54.
Food security, Honey bee decline, Pesticide impact, Sustainable agriculture
Dicks, L.V., Breeze, T.D., Ngo, H.T., Senapathi, D., An, J., Aizen, M.A., Basu, P., Buchori, D., Galetto, L., Garibaldi, L.A., Gemmill-Herren, B., Howlett, B.G., Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L., Johnson, S.D., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Kwon, Y.J., Lattorff, H.M.G., Lungharwo, T., Seymour, C.L., Vanbergen, A.J., Potts, S.G., 2021. A global-scale expert assessment of drivers and risks associated with pollinator decline. Nature Ecology and Evolution 5(10), 1453-1461. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01534-9.
El-Seedi, H.R., Ahmed, H.R., El-Wahed, A.A.A., Saeed, A., Algethami, A.F., Attia, N.F., Guo, Z., Musharraf, S.G., Khatib, A., Khalifa, S.A.M., Wang, K., 2022. Bee stressors from an immunological perspective and strategies to improve bee health. Veterinary Sciences 9(5), 199. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9050199.
Nicholson, C.C., Egan, P.A., 2020. Natural hazard threats to pollinators and pollination. Global Change Biology 26(2), 380-391. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14840.
Singla, A., Barmota, H., Sahoo, S.K., Kang, B.K., 2021. Influence of neonicotinoids on pollinators: A review. Journal of Apicultural Research 60(1), 19-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2020.1825044.
Siviter, H., Johnson, A.K., Muth, F., 2021. Bumblebees exposed to a neonicotinoid pesticide make suboptimal foraging decisions. Environmental Entomology 50(6), 1299-1303. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvab087.
