Recent research suggests climate change could affect bees' diets and, ultimately, our own.
A study conducted by researchers in Belgium and published last month in the scientific journal "Insects" determined that buff-tailed bumblebees were four times less likely to visit borage plants grown at 79 degrees Fahrenheit compared to plants grown at 70 degrees.
The plants grown at hotter temperatures produced fewer flowers, as well as less nectar and pollen.
"I don't think we should be too surprised about this," Peter Oboyski, the executive director of UC Berkeley’s Essig Museum of Entomology, explained to KCBS Radio’s Rebecca Corral on Wednesday morning.
“So imagine if somebody offered you either a small candy bar or a large candy bar. Which one would you take? You’d probably take the large candy bar," he said. "And basically that’s what these bees are doing.”
If the study's results are unsurprising, Oboyski said their ramifications are far-reaching.
Temperatures continue to get hotter as a consequence of climate change, and plants producing less pollen and nectar mean those would feed fewer bees. Although Oboyski said bees would adapt in the absence of cooler alternatives, similar reactions to different plant species pollinated by bees could quickly result in a "downward spiral."
Pollinators are responsible for about one in three bites of food Americans take, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Each of these flowers may seem pretty small, but when you multiply that across the whole landscape, that's actually a lot of volume, a lot of nectar that's no longer available if these plants are coming out smaller," Oboyski said.
"When the flowers are smaller, there's less nectar, it supports less bees," he added. "And across a whole landscape, that can start to make a big difference."
In addition to aggressively combating climate change, Oboyski said growing more flowers – and growing more kinds of flowers – could help fill nutritional gaps for bees who can't rely on nectar from the same sources. He recognized that could present a challenge for agriculture and forestry, which he said can de-emphasize plant diversity.
"If there’s going to be less nutrition per flower, then having more flowers, having more space with flowers growing would be the solution," Oboyski said. "If there's not enough based on the flowers that are there, then let's provide more."
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