Washington [US], July 15 : Warmer springs, according to recent research, are prompting bees to awaken earlier, endangering agricultural pollination of apples and pears.
The findings of the study were published in Ecology and Evolution.
The study claimed to be the largest of its type in the UK, revealed that for every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature induced by climate change, wild bees such as bumblebees emerge from their eggs 6.5 days sooner on average.
As spring arrives earlier and bees emerge earlier in the year, they may lose sync with the plants on which they rely, implying that there will be less food for them to consume. This means that bees may not have enough energy to pollinate crops effectively or may completely miss crop blossom.
PhD researcher Chris Wyver, of the University of Reading's School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, who led the study, said: "Rising temperatures are making life tougher for bees. Warmer conditions mean bees emerge from hibernation earlier, but there may not be enough food to provide energy for them when they start buzzing about.
"Matching wake-up dates with plant flowering is vital for newly emerged bees because they need to find pollen and nectar to increase their chances of survival and produce offspring. A mismatch means bees cannot pollinate effectively."
"Less natural pollination could lead to farmers needing to use managed honeybees, meaning greater costs, which may be passed on to consumers. We could see even more expensive apples, pears and vegetables in supermarkets as a result."
The study examined 88 different species of wild bees over a period of 40 years, using more than 350,000 individual recordings that showed shifts in emergence dates, both over time and in relation to temperature.
Data showed that some bees emerge earlier than others as different species of bee respond differently to the changing temperature. On average, 88 species are emerging 4 days earlier per decade.
With winters projected to be between 1 and 4.5°C warmer and up to 30 per cent wetter by 2070, according to the Met Office, spring is likely to continue to start earlier and bees will continue to become active earlier in the year.
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