Knowledgebase
Native bees #927112
Asked March 30, 2026, 5:54 PM EDT
Marion County Indiana
Expert Response
Thanks for reaching out with this question.
Generally speaking, native/wild bee species face many stressors, such as habitat loss, pesticide, climate change.
There is limited research on the impacts of honey bees on wild/native bee species, and the results vary based on the landscape and location. One concern is that honey bees may use up floral resources (nectar/pollen) that native/wild bee species need, but this concern can often be mitigated by lots of bee-friendly flowers in the landscape. Some of the scientific papers that I know of that show evidence of competition between honey bees and wild bee species are from Europe, which is a different landscape (and where honey bees are native).
Another concern is that honey bees may share viruses and other pathogens with other bee species, but I'm not familiar with much scientific evidence on disease transfer between bee species. Having a landscape with many bee-friendly flowers can help mitigate disease transmission concerns because bees spread out among different flowers and interact less withe each other.
Pollinator Champions, our free, online course, addresses many of your questions.
Is Beekeeping Right for Me? is another free, online course that addresses some of the potential impacts of honey bees on wild/native bees.
We Need All the Bees, and They Need Us is an opinion piece that you be interested in reading.
Here are other articles that may be of interest to you:
The Problem with Honey Bees by Alison McAfee in Scientific American
When Do Honey Bees Compete With Native Wild Bees? Part 1 by Scott McArt in American Bee Journal
When Do Honey Bees Compete With Native Wild Bees? Part 2 by Scott McArt in American Bee Journal