Bees are probably the most important insects to the human experience, even though our relationship to them on a personal level is ambivalent. They are valued first and foremost as pollinators of food plants, and (in the case of the honeybee) as producers of honey and beeswax. While the widespread collapse of honeybee populations due to "colony collapse disorder" has made headlines worldwide, the fact that other species of bees are in even greater danger is often forgotten, even though it has much darker implications.
Honeybees were originally native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, and were introduced to the Americas, Australia, and the Pacific islands by European colonists. Most plants native to these regions, therefore, have not evolved to be pollinated by honeybees; honeybees are technically an invasive species, albeit one that will probably never be removed. The native bees in these regions have not been so lucky. Many species of New World bumblebee, for example, are in a steep decline. Competition for resources from honeybees may be a factor in this, as might use of pesticides and outright habitat destruction. One, the Franklin's bumblebee, is almost certainly extinct.
With the native bees dying out, many specialized plants in these areas will be left with nothing to pollinate them, and thus unable to reproduce. Fortunately, there are things one can do to help. "Native beekeeping" has become something of a trend among eco-savvy individuals in parts of the United States, and it involves setting up wooden blocks with holes drilled in them for native stingless solitary bees to nest in. You won't get rewarded with honey or beeswax, but you'll get something a lot more valuable in the long run--a garden of native vegetation.
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