🌅 Honey Bees Bully Other Pollinators

SOURCE

Buckle et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new study by researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K. found honey bees frequently use aggressive tactics to drive other pollinators away from flowers, including chasing, displacing, and intimidating rival insects. The team also found higher densities of honey bee populations were associated with both lower numbers of other pollinators, like bumble bees, hoverflies, and butterflies, among others, and a greater number of competitive interactions between pollinators.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The researchers observed 300 competitive interactions between pairs of different pollinators on bramble and ivy plants, classifying each interaction based on its outcome: insects “won” when they gained access to a resource, “lost” when the other’s gain came at their expense, or “shared” when both accessed the flower without conflict. The team found honey bees won most of their interactions, and physically pushed aside or chased away rivals in at least 20% of the interactions they won on either plant. Rival pollinators also actively avoided honey bees in 28% of competitive interactions on bramble and 36% of interactions on ivy. The researchers say the findings will help scientists understand how competition between wild pollinators happens, and guide the planning and best practices for conservation.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Britain isn’t the only place honey bees are impacting local ecosystems. A 2025 study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego found non-native honey bees in Southern California remove around 80% of pollen during the first day a flower blooms, threatening native pollinators and their ability to reproduce. A 2023 study by the same research team also found plants pollinated by honey bees produce lower-quality offspring than plants pollinated by native pollinators, leaving ecosystems more vulnerable to invasion by non-native plant species.