New study assesses competition for resources between wild pollinators and managed honey bees

Tsenka Garova | 24/02/2026 11:47:37 | article

Safeguard researchers from the Estonian University of Life Sciences, the University of Würzburg, and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research recently published a study assessing competition for resources between managed honey bees and wild pollinators. Using transect walks across 30 sites on the Estonian coastline and islands, they measured the abundance and species richness of pollinators from five groups: bumblebees, butterflies and burnet moths, hoverflies, solitary bees, and honey bees.

The study comes at a time of growing concern that competition for floral resources with managed honey bees may be contributing to wild pollinator decline - yet comprehensive field data remains scarce, particularly in northern Europe.

To assess the potential impact of honey bee competition, the researchers related wild pollinator abundance and species richness to the number of honey bee colonies within a 2 km radius of each site, while accounting for grassland restoration status, local flower cover, and surrounding forest cover.

The results show that honey bee colony density did not affect the abundance or species richness of wild pollinators. Most variables revealed no effects, with flower cover being the only exception. At current colony densities in this region, managed honey bees do not appear to pose a threat to wild pollinator communities.

Read the full study here.

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