Honey Bees: Boosters of Farms, Disruptive for Nature

Why their agricultural value doesn’t translate to ecological harmony

Honey Bees Are Livestock

Domestic honey bees (Apis mellifera) in their modern forms are not wild creatures—they are domesticated livestock. Bred and managed for human benefit, they pollinate crops and produce honey much like cows or chickens provide milk or eggs. When colonies escape management, they don’t transform into wild bees—they become feral livestock, akin to stray cats or pigs thriving outside human control.

When Bees Go Feral

Feral honey bees can overwhelm ecosystems. Due to human migration and agricultural expansion over the past century, they have spread globally, competing with native pollinators for floral resources and nesting sites. Many native bees are solitary and highly specialized, making them especially vulnerable to honey bees’ aggressive foraging. As a result, unmanaged colonies disrupt plant-pollinator networks, reduce biodiversity, and burden ecosystems already reeling from climate change and habitat loss.

The Stats Speak Loudly

In California alone, there are approximately 1,600 species of native bees, showcasing the state’s incredible pollinator biodiversity—nearly 10 percent of the world’s bee species en.wikipedia.org, instagram.com. Meanwhile, honey bees pollinate about 80 percent of flowering plants, including over 130 key fruits and vegetables farmers.gov+1. Their role in food production is monumental, yet their dominance comes at the expense of ecosystem resilience.

A Double-Edged Role

Paradoxically, while feral honey bees are thriving, managed colonies are failing. Industrialized beekeeping and genetic homogeneity have led to massive die-offs. This poses two difficult questions: Should we recapture feral colonies to restore genetic health to managed hives? Or should we treat these feral bees as invasive—potentially culling them, as we do with other non-native livestock?

Rethinking the Buzz

Honey bees are unparalleled allies for agriculture, but that doesn’t make them saviors of the broader natural world. Their unchecked spread undermines the very ecosystems that support biodiversity. To ensure resilient ecosystems, we must look past honey bees and prioritize native pollinators—giving them the recognition, space, and protection they deserve.

It does the planet and its ecosystem a disservice to roll honeybees into our general ‘pollinators’ discussion because they do not exist in functional reciprocity with native ecosystems the same way that native wild pollinators do.