In a rapidly urbanising India, here’s how you can revive the dwindling bee population

“Everyone wants honey. But no one wants the bees near them,” says 34-year-old Pune resident Amit Godse, who runs a business extricating beehives from neighborhoods that don’t like them. Godse then relocates the beehives to wooded areas or farmlands bordering the city or sends them to beekeepers.

His company, Bee Basket, also sells sustainably-harvested honey and other honey-based products, employing farmers and tribal communities and educating them on beekeeping.

“We produce honey from wild and domesticated bees. We harvest two-thirds of the honey and leave the rest for the bees. Some wild honey collectors drain the entire hive and even destroy it in the process,” explains Godse.

Ecological role

Honey bees collect the nectar of flowers and store it in wax combs as a food source to feed immature larvae and adults during winter. Apis cerana indica or Indian hive bee, Apis mellifera or European bee, and Melipona irridipennis or stingless bee are the species found in India that can be domesticated in boxes. Apis dorsata or rock bee and Apis florea or little bee are the wild species. Bumblebees and carpenter bees are also found in India.

Globally, 75% of food crops depend, to some extent, on animal pollinators, primarily insects. Beekeeping facilitates pollination and increases crop yield but wild pollinators also play a significant role in pollination.

In addition, bees help propagate biodiversity in cities and forests. Nearly 90% of wild flowering plants depend on animal pollinators for seed production. For instance, Cassia fistula or the Indian laburnum, a native tree that paints many cities yellow at the onset of summer, is pollinated by several species of carpenter bees.

But the abundance and diversity of wild pollinators across the world are falling due to human activities such as intensive agriculture, pesticide use, and climate change. Bees are facing the consequences of urbanisation too.

K Lakshmi Rao, Assistant Director, Central Bee Research and Training Institute, Pune, said, “Habitat loss and the lack of flowering trees in cities are huge issues. Sound, air, and light pollution also stress the bees.” Rock bees, the most commonly found species in Indian cities, nest in buildings and arches instead of tall trees. And that brings the possibility of conflict with humans.

Bees as pets

Godse believes that bees don’t bother humans unless provoked. He says that fear of bees due to lack of knowledge about them is the biggest threat to the species. “People spray pesticides on hives or burn them. They think destroying it is the end of the issue. But losing bees is actually the beginning of it.”

S Basavarajappa, associate professor and part of the apidologie lab, which studies honey bees, their behavior, and ecology at the University of Mysore in Karnataka, says, “Glass buildings and packed concrete roads in cities trap the heat and increase the temperature, altering its local climate. Bees can’t handle the heat beyond a point.”

Basavarajappa has been studying the rock bee colonies in Mysore for several years and has observed a 2% decline in colonies every year, though reasons are yet to be identified.

Globally, various studies have linked climate change to potential population decline in bees. Another study describes how a mismatch between flowering time due to global warming and bees’ activity led to fitness losses in the insect.

“Bees cannot cope if it is too hot. If it is too cold, they will be strained to produce more honey. Untimely rains affect the flowering and nectar availability,” said Rao.

But urban centers can do their bit to keep the buzz alive. A 2019 study across four British cities found that urban centers are a haven for pollinators as compared to neighboring farmlands, and a study in Bengaluru suggests that neighborhood parks in cities support biodiversity, including insects.

“People can plant native trees in their localities, and keep plants of local fruits and vegetables and in their windows and balconies,” suggests Rao. She advises people to get trained in beekeeping from the state-run institutes or other groups to learn more about them.

Godse promotes the idea of urban beekeeping and to see native bees as pets. He believes that even in dense cities, houses with a balcony can keep bee boxes with stingless bees after they get trained. “The bees will collect nectar from trees within a two-three kilometre radius and return to your house. You’ll have a hobby and they’ll help in pollination.” Bee Basket has helped 35 houses in Pune to start beekeeping.

Basavarajappa says existing green spaces and trees need to be preserved, and says awareness programs in residential areas can help sensitise locals towards bees. It can shift common perception of the insects from stinging pests to helpful allies.

At a time when bees are struggling to cope with challenges in urban areas, Godse says, “the best way to handle them is not to handle them at all.”

This article first appeared on Mongabay.