Are honey bees the only bees important for pollination?
No. There are many other bees and insects that are important for pollinating our orchards and crops, e.g. bumble bees (Bombus spp.) and solitary bees. There are over 25, 000 different species of bee in the world and many of them are under threat. In the UK, of the 254 species of wild bee (solitary and bumble bees), 25% are in the Red Data Book of endangered species. About 80% of the food on the supermarket shelves is there because bees have pollinated crops — without bees we would starve!
