Why Wild Native Bees Matter

Photo credit: Christine Hanrahan, Fletcher Wildlife Garden

To view the photo-rich magazine version, click here.

Originally appears in the Summer 2022 issue.

By Beatrice Olivastri

Friends of the Earth is grateful for the opportunity to work with Green Teacher to highlight the importance of wild native bees to biodiversity and to food security. Worldwide, bees include some 20,000 described species. Wild bees are key to the sexual reproduction of hundreds of thousands of wild plants and also to the yield of about 85% of food crops. Before the Honey bee was introduced from Europe in 1622, there were over 4,000 native bees in North America. While many of the “saving the bee” campaigns focus on the Honey bee, many wild native bees are more efficient crop pollinators than the non-native Honey bee. 

In this article, we look at native bees and crops they pollinate in North America and the threats they face. But first, we consider the critical need to reposition insects from “pests” to be eradicated to essential members of a hugely intricate and intimate community that constitutes biodiversity. When the first wild animal a child encounters is likely to be an insect in their immediate surroundings, is s/he likely to learn about dangerous pests or vital members of a community essential to biodiversity?