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The loss of agricultural production due to insufficient pollination has decreased thanks to honeybees

A meta-analysis published today in PNAS shows that, globally, the loss of agricultural production due to insufficient pollination has decreased since the 1980s, primarily due to the use of honeybees. The research includes 165 studies published between 1950 and 2019 whose results showed that fields without managed pollinators did not show a clear decrease in this loss of productivity. According to the authors, this type of pollination has mitigated yield loss, but the heavy reliance on a single species of pollinator, the common honeybee, poses risks to agriculture.