Beekeeping, wild bees and pollination in the European Community
Author(s)
Ingrid H Williams, Sarah A Corbet And Juliet L Osborne
Abstract
This article is the last in a series of three based on a report entitled 'Bees and the pollination of crops and wild flowers: changes in the European Community which was prepared for the Scientific and Technical Options Assessment of the European Parliament. The review was commissioned in response to the concern that changes in land use and beekeeping practice within the Community may result in a shortage of bees for crop and wild flower pollination. The first article in the series examined which crops and wild flowers within the Community depended on bees for their pollination and how the role of bees as pollinators could be assessed. The second concerned changes in habitats and land use and their predicted effects on bee pollination. In this last article we examine recent changes in the numbers and distribution of honey bees and wild bees and their consequences for crop production and the reproductive success of wild flowers.
Keywords
Beekeeping, wild bees, pollination, European Community
