Bees Just Give Up When Humans Degrade the Land

To do this they used a unique method to measure the energy expenditure of bees, originally developed by Professor Bradshaw and used in his research on honey possums. Through this method they were able to measure the metabolic rate of bees when they are in their natural environment, and compare pristine environments rich in resources to degraded environments.

“Before conducting the experiment we thought the bees would have a much higher metabolism in degraded areas because they would need to travel further in search of food,” Professor Bradshaw said.

“Surprisingly we found the opposite. The metabolic rate of bees in natural woodland was actually significantly higher than in a degraded environment,” Professor Bradshaw said.

“Rather than travel in search of food in degraded areas, the bees foraged less and depended on stored resources inside the hive.”

“We were also able to measure their intake of nectar which showed that the bees in the degraded landscape were feeding less.” The research has important implications for understanding environmental impacts on bees which will help preserve bee populations in the future and may offer insight into the way other insects’ metabolism works and how it affects their behaviour. This is the first time the metabolic rate and feeding rate of a free-flying insect has been measured in its natural environment and paves the way for future research on pollinators other than bees.

“Bees are vital for human beings, the environment and agriculture,” Professor Bradshaw said.

“They pollinate one sixth of flowering plants world-wide and help to produce a third of what we eat, but unfortunately over the past few decades there has been a dramatic decline in global bee populations.

“Continual research in this area is vital in understanding their behaviour, how we as humans can impact their survival, and what we can do in the future to protect them.”

The research has been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society