CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON HONEYBEE SPREAD AND ACTIVITY: A SCIENTIFIC REVIEW

Abstract

Climate change poses multiple threats to honeybee health through mechanisms including higher temperatures, shifting seasons, extreme weather, reduced forage, and increased disease. This review synthesizes the current literature on how various climate factors interact to impact honeybee biology, immunity, distribution, and floral resources. Rising temperatures accelerate colony metabolism, limit foraging time, and increase pesticide toxicity. Altered precipitation patterns and increased frequency of floods and droughts restrict nutrition availability. Range shifts decouple bees from viable habitats and forage. Climate warming also amplifies parasites, pathogens, and diseases. Models predict steep future declines in managed and wild bee populations across regions without intervention. Protecting bees will require targeted conservation, sustainable agriculture, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.