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- Ami Eckard-Lee:
When we think of bees,

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we think of flowers, stingers,
and...

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[ding]
...honey.

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But not all bees make honey.

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There are over 20,000 species
of bees worldwide,

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but less than 15 of these
produce the honey

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that we like to eat.

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Most of our honey
comes from bees

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that are managed
by human beekeepers

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for selling products like these:

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honey, pollen, honeycomb,
or beeswax.

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Wild bees are species
that survive on their own

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in the natural environment

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and are typically native
to the area.

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And these little ladies are
vital for a healthy ecosystem.

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But bummer news.

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Both domesticated
and wild bee populations

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have been declining for decades,

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primarily due to climate change,
habitat loss,

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and the widespread use
of pesticides.

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So, what happens to the
environment if we lose bees?

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[bright music]

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All bees are pollinators,

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but not all
pollinators are bees.

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Pollinators are animals
that help move pollen

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from one plant to another,
allowing plants to reproduce.

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Many species are considered
pollinators,

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like butterflies, regular flies,

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beetles, even some bat
and bird species.

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But bees are the kings
of pollination.

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Or maybe the queens.

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But why is it so important
for the environment?

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I tried catching a bee
to ask her,

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but she told me to buzz off.

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So, I met with these guys
instead.

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And they seem to know
a thing or two about bees.

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Why are pollinators
so important

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for the environment?

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- James Crall: One is
for biodiversity.

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The other one is
more selfish.

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And that's for us,

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because a lot of the crops that
we depend on as humans

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depend on that pollination.

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One in three bites, roughly,
of food that we eat

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comes from a plant that depends
to some extent on pollination.

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Basically, less pollinators
means less food for us.

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- What are the main threats
to pollinators

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in our communities right now?

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- Claudio Gratton: I think if we
had to put 'em into categories,

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I would say that the biggest one
is habitat loss.

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Imagine that every little
habitat that they can get food

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is isolated from every other
one.

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As habitats get smaller,

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they get further and further
from other similar habitats.

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So, the likelihood
that they can get to other food

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that is similar to what they're
finding here is really low.

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So, that's fragmentation.

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There's also diseases
and pathogens

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that are influencing
bee populations in particular.

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Related to that is also
the use of pesticides.

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And then, there's this kind of
other thing that's happening

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in the background

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that we're still trying
to understand

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is the relationship and the role
that climate

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is actually playing.

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- How does climate
impact the pollinators?

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- So, we can think of climate
as both directly impacting bees

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and other insects, right?

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So, out on a hot day,
it might be more stressful

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in the middle of summer
for bees.

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We would call those
direct impacts.

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But the other thing
that can happen

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are these indirect effects
through plants, right?

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One is through sort of
shifting timing,

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something we call phenology.

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Generally, phenology is that
sort of timing

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of biological events.

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So, one of these might be, oh,

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when do flowers and bees both
emerge in spring?

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And one thing that can happen
with climate

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is you start scrambling those
a little bit.

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And that can lead
to timing mismatches, right?

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Maybe the timing of when bees
emerge

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is different than the timing
of when plants come out.

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- Ami: These changes
in phenology

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are what makes biodiversity
so important for pollinators.

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Biodiversity refers to the
variety of species

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in a given location.

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For example, a cornfield has
very little biodiversity

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because there's only one species
growing.

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Whereas a prairie might have
dozens of plant species.

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All these species have different
traits and blooming periods

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that make them favorable
to certain pollinators.

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And by supporting pollinators,

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we're directly helping ourselves
as well,

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because if they can't get the
food they need,

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we might not get the food
we need.

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I'm here at an apple orchard
to talk with a farmer

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whose harvest relies
on these pollinators,

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just like the pollinators
rely on these flowers.

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Deirdre is an organic farmer

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who decided to designate
30 acres of her land

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to restore a native prairie

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that would help support
the wild pollinators.

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And she has a pretty incredible
story

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about how that decision
paid off.

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- Deirdre Birmingham: In 2022,
we were having

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a very long, cool,
kind of miserable, damp spring.

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I knew that it was delaying
bloom,

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and then it surged into the 90s.
- Oh, wow.

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- Deirdre: And so, the blossoms
were, like, exploding.

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They were just opening
very quickly.

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And I had seen some
wild pollinators.

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And so, I thought, "Good,

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"I know the wild pollinators
are here,

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"but I haven't seen this
neighbor's honey bees

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on the landscape yet."

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So, I hadn't seen them.

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I called him and said,

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"Hey, are your honey bees
coming soon?"

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He said, "Oh, they're on a truck

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from Texas."
- Oh, wow!

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- 'Cause he would ship 'em
to work,

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you know, work someplace else.
- Wow!

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- And so, they won't be here
in time for my early blossom.

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It was about a three,

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maybe three-and-a-half day
window.

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And the wild bees did it,
'cause I got a crop

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on those early season varieties
thanks to wild pollinators.

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- Having this diverse native
prairie habitat available

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gave these wild pollinators
a better chance

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at coping
with additional stressors

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such as a delayed
blooming period.

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So, what are some ways we can
incorporate more diverse

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and connected habitats
into our own communities?

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- Actually, urban and suburban
areas can be even better habitat

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for wild bees
because there's more diversity.

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People have different plants
in their yard.

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They have flowers,
they might have vegetables.

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So, all this diverse stuff that
people have there

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can be great for pollinators.

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- Think about all the areas
in your community

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that are currently covered
in a simple bed of grass.

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This might be the grassy area

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between the sidewalk
and the road,

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or the median in the street.

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These areas could become habitat
for pollinators

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if the right species were
growing there.

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Another great way

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to get involved in protecting
pollinators

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is by participating
in a citizen science program.

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Citizen science programs
are ways

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that members of the community

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can take action on environmental
issues they care about

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by aiding real scientists
in collecting local data.

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The Bumble Bee Brigade

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is an example of a
citizen scientist program,

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coordinated by the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources

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to aid in the conservation
of bumblebees in the state.

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When you're on a,
what do you call them,

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bee expeditions,
when you come down here

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to the park?
- Aishika Samanta: Bee-search.

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- When you're doing some
bee-search, I should call it,

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what do you--
What does it day look like?

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- Yeah, so we kind of walk
along the same path each time

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for consistency

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and look at each
individual flower

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and see what bees are on them.

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We keep track of what
flower preferences,

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so what flower
each bumblebee is on,

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the bumblebee species,

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the sex of the bumblebee,
humidity, temperature, weather,

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all that stuff to kind of keep
track of population,

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but also flower preference

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and kind of how populations
fluctuate throughout the season.

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And that's one of my
favorite things

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about citizen science
is that anyone can get involved.

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- There are a lot of ways
you can get involved

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in protecting and advocating
for pollinators

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and their habitat.

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You can start by building a
bee house for your backyard,

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or planting a pollinator garden
at your school.

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You could even try participating
in citizen science programs

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or start advocating
for protective laws

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that safeguard pollinator
habitat.

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All of these can directly
or indirectly help pollinators,

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protect habitats,
and save our food resources.

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So, make like a bee
and get busy.

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[gentle music]

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Spoiler: it's bad.

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Not the sandwich.

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I'm getting weirder.

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Aaah!