Bee on clover.
The trouble with bees
21 April 2009
Bees are in big trouble: many species' populations are declining. With around a third of the food we eat coming from crops pollinated by insects and 90 per cent of the UK's wildflowers relying on insects for pollination, this is far from good news.
Habitats used by many species of bees are changing fast. Intensive agriculture and climate change are affecting numbers of bumblebee species and disease is ravaging hives of domesticated honeybees.
Einstein famously said that if there were no bees, humans would have around four years left to live.
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Dr Matt Heard and Dr Claire Carvell, both from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology have discovered the truth is a little more complex than that. Honeybees are crucial, but bumblebees and other wild bees are just as important.
Science writer and broadcaster Sue Nelson visits the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology to find out more.
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