VIDEO: How can honeybees and wild pollinators co-exist?

Many plant species would decrease or even disappear without pollination, putting our own food security at risk. 

The major threats to wild pollinators include land-use change, intensive agricultural management practices (including pesticide use), environmental pollution, invasive alien species and climate change

Honeybees are often called ‘managed pollinators’ because humans domesticate them.

However, most pollinators are wild, meaning they are ‘non-managed’. This includes more than 20,000 different species of bees, species of flies, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, and thrips.

But as wild bee, hoverfly and butterfly populations shrink, the number of honeybee hives in the EU has steadily grown. While a high density of the hives can negatively impact wild pollinators through competition for food resources, this is of local character and is not considered a major threat.

The Commission works closely with the beekeeping community to ensure that any negative impacts on wild pollinators are mitigated. The Commission has called on beekeepers to support biodiversity and become stewards of wild pollinators. Have a look at the guidance document for the apiculture sector on protecting wild pollinators. 

Watch the video below to discover more about the threats to wild pollinators.

Read the full story on Euronews