Honeybee swarms can establish new nesting sites, creating an illusion of stable wild…

Honeybee swarms can establish new nesting sites, creating an illusion of stable wild populations. However, model calculations indicate that without immigration from apiaries, wild honeybee populations in Europe would decline by an average of 56% per decade. Wild honeybee colonies are more widespread in Europe than previously thought, yet many seem unable to sustain themselves independently. A new study quantifies this median decline without apiary influx, providing crucial data for classifying the EU population as critically endangered.