The future of Bees

We have long known that bee populations are in decline due to climate change, but climate change is not by any means the only reason.  Bee-killing pesticides are an important factor which countries could and should control. Habitat loss is another factor. Governments traditionally encourage groth, and growth often means paving over land for buildings and streets and even bicycle paths. A few cities like Berlin have been trying to protect successful green areas like Tiergarten in the city's centre, but pollution from automobile traffic remains a problem despite a vote in 2022 that favoured restricting cars inside the core city. Courts have ruled that holding a new  referendum to ban cars within the S-Bahn ring is legal. Forests are also suffering despite efforts in many countries to protect forests from developers.  


Nonetheless a 2025 article by Madina Tussupov gives a reason for hope, because  the population of bees is actually growing in some areas in Asia. China has, for example, become the world's largest producer of  honey. The Chinese have realized that bees are an economic asset.



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REFERENCE: Tussupov, Madina. March 2025. “Bees Are Not Declining Everywhere: A Global Perspective.” Earth.Org, https://earth.org/data_visualization/bees-are-not-declining-everywhere-a-global-perspective-on-population-trends/.


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