Rise in urban beekeeping may be crowding out native bee species

In Montreal, Canada, wild bee species diversity is declining in areas colonized by bees

To Brian Owens

Efforts to ‘save the bees’ by encouraging beekeeping in urban areas over the past decade may have been good for them, but wild native bees seem to be paying a price.

Researchers in Montreal, Canada, surveyed wild bee populations in the city in 2020 and found that areas with high concentrations of bee hives had lower wild bee species diversity.

Overall bee diversity in the city has also declined since 2013, when surveys were last conducted…