A new study by the University of Vermont found the U.S. population of wild bees has declined 23 percent over the last seven years. Wild bees are crucial to crop production and researchers note the study shows significant losses in food production areas, such as California’s Central Valley, the Midwestern Corn Belt and the Mississippi River Valley. The study is the first to map wild bee populations across the lower 48 states. 139 counties across the country with high volumes of crop production, with a focus on California, the Pacific Northwest, the upper Midwest and Great Plains, west Texas and the southern Mississippi River Valley. The study also found that in 39 percent of the regions targeted there is a “threatening mismatch” between rising demand for pollination and a diminishing supply of wild bees. Further, the study found the mismatch between pollen demand and bee populations to be most dramatic in regions where crops are grown that are most pollen-dependent, such as pumpkins, watermelons, pears, peaches, plums, apples and blueberries. Researchers placed blame on a number of threats, including pesticide use, climate change and disease, as well as the conversion of wild bee habitat into cropland.
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