The question of whether bees are endangered requires distinguishing between the many different types of bee species around the world. Public concern about bee health and decline has grown significantly, largely driven by reports of colony losses in managed populations. However, the answer is complex because the global population of roughly 20,000 bee species does not share the same conservation status. The focus must shift from a singular narrative to the widely varying trends seen across different groups of pollinators.
Status Varies by Bee Type
The conservation status of bees depends entirely on whether the species is a managed agricultural animal or a wild native insect. The Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a domesticated livestock species and is not native to North America. Despite facing significant annual colony losses, managed honeybee populations are maintained by beekeepers. This results in a global population that is likely higher now than at any point in history, meaning the species itself is not endangered.
The severe decline is concentrated among thousands of native, wild bee species, such as solitary bees and bumblebees. In North America alone, over 3,600 native bee species exist, and many are experiencing dramatic population crashes. Unlike honeybees, the majority of native species are solitary, nesting in the ground or in hollow stems. Studies indicate that over a quarter of North American bumblebee species face extinction risk. Managed honeybee colonies also compete directly with these native species for finite pollen and nectar resources.
Factors Driving Population Decline
The primary reasons for the severe decline in native bee populations are interconnected: habitat loss, pesticide exposure, and disease pressure. The expansion of intensive agriculture and urbanization leads to the loss and fragmentation of natural habitat, affecting both nesting sites and forage diversity. Fragmentation forces bees to fly longer distances to find necessary resources, often exceeding the typical 1- to 2-kilometer range of a medium-bodied bee.
Pesticide exposure, particularly from systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, presents a pervasive threat to bee health. Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic and, even at sublethal doses, interfere with a bee’s central nervous system. This exposure impairs cognitive functions, causing disorientation, erratic foraging behavior, and reduced navigation ability. For social bees, this can lead to reproductive impairment in queens and drones, reducing colony viability and increasing susceptibility to pathogens.
Disease and parasites further compound these issues, often exhibiting spillover effects between managed and wild populations. While the Varroa mite is a major parasite of the managed honeybee, other pathogens, like the fungus Nosema bombi, contribute to the collapse of native bumblebee colonies. Stress from poor nutrition and chronic pesticide exposure weakens the bees’ immune systems, making them more vulnerable to existing diseases.
Official Government Protection Status
The formal legal designation of “endangered” is reserved for specific species that have undergone a rigorous scientific review process under regulatory frameworks like the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). In the United States, the first bees to receive federal protection were seven species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees (Hylaeus species) in 2016. These small, solitary bees are endemic to Hawaii and were listed due to threats from habitat destruction and invasive species.
The Rusty Patched Bumblebee (Bombus affinis) was listed as federally endangered in 2017, marking the first time a bee species in the continental U.S. received ESA protection. Once common across the Eastern and Midwestern U.S., the bee has vanished from an estimated 87% of its historic range. These official listings trigger specific legal protections, including the development and implementation of recovery plans to stabilize remaining populations. Other species, such as the American Bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus), are recognized as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, indicating a high risk of extinction.
Efforts to Support Bee Recovery
Efforts to support bee recovery focus on both large-scale policy changes and actionable steps the public can take to create healthier environments. Government bodies are increasingly moving toward restrictions on the most harmful chemical exposures, such as proposing bans on certain neonicotinoid pesticides, including clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam. These legislative actions are designed to protect pollinators by eliminating chemicals that impair foraging and navigation.
The public can play a significant role in creating and restoring local habitat, particularly for the 70% of native bees that nest in the ground. Reducing lawn size and leaving patches of bare, undisturbed soil provides necessary nesting material, as does leaving standing, pithy stems of plants like raspberries and elderberry. Providing artificial nests, often called bee houses, for cavity-nesting species and planting native wildflowers that bloom throughout the season helps ensure a stable supply of pollen and nectar. These actions shift the focus from managing a single domesticated species to cultivating environments that support the full diversity of wild bees.