Study finds climate change could lead to a rise of smaller bees

Bees are the most important pollinators on the planet.

These golden-hued insects don't just eat sweet nectar while jumping from bloom to flower; they also transmit pollen between plants, which is an important function for plant reproduction.

Insects like bees, on the other hand, are in grave danger as the climate crisis worsens and their habitats and food sources are threatened by global warming.

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According to new research, the climate crisis may result in more small-bodied bees but fewer bumblebees, with potentially "cascading" implications for plant pollination and ecosystems.

Over the course of eight years, scientists in the United States trapped and studied more than 20,000 bees in a region of the Rocky Mountains to see how different varieties of bees reacted to changing climatic conditions.

The authors of the study claimed that while environmental conditions varied from year to year, the sub-alpine region from which they gathered samples was "especially sensitive to climate change," with generally warmer spring temperatures and faster snow melt.

They discovered that as temperatures rose, larger-bodied bees and comb-building cavity nesters decreased in number, while smaller, soil-nesting bees increased.