May 27, 2026

What if bees became extinct?

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Many of the things we enjoy are made possible by the incredible work of bees, from fruit and flowers to coffee. But what would happen if bees became extinct?

Close up image of bumblebee sitting on pink flower

Written by Minnie|What if bees became extinct?

How our lives would change if bees became extinct

Can you imagine a countryside without flowers? Farms with bare trees? Fewer animals in our woodlands? Limited fresh produce in supermarkets? Coffee becoming a rarity? This is the reality of what our world would look like if bees became extinct. A world without bees would have significant negative consequences on our lives and that of other insects and animals.

Bees a play a big part in putting food on our table

Bats, beetles, birds, butterflies, moths and wasps also help crops to grow but it’s without a doubt that bees carry out the bulk of the work.

Putting honey aside (more on that later), if bees went extinct the variety of foods available to us would decrease significantly. Did know that bees pollinate 70 of the around 100 crop species that feed 90 percent of the world? (1)

Crops of foods such as apples, blueberries, peaches, onions, pumpkins, broccoli, watermelons and cucumbers, to name a few, all heavily rely on the work of bees.

If bees became extinct, some produce, such as coffee would become scarce, and others, such as almonds would likely no longer exist. Meat and dairy would be affected too as bees pollinate the clover and alfalfa cows graze on to survive.

Without bees, the world as we know it would undoubtedly change. Our supermarkets would have around half of the fruit and vegetables we see today having implications on our diets, food and drink prices, businesses and of course our economy. An astounding $235 to $577 billion of annual global food production depends on the contribution of bees (2).

Did you realise bees played such a big role in our lives?

You may be surprised to learn that so much depends on these little creatures. And too many of us take them for granted. It is estimated that around a third of the food we eat is thanks to the incredible work of bees.

Bees give us flowers, plants and help other species survive

And their work doesn’t stop at giving us a variety of produce to eat. Bees bring magnificent colour and beauty into our lives. Without bees, flowers and some trees wouldn’t be able to grow and many other insects and animals, who rely on plants for nutrition and habitat, would become extinct. This would have huge and devastating implications for our natural world and inevitably, our wellbeing.

How the work of bees puts food on our table

Let’s look at the process by which bees help put food on our table.

Many fruits and vegetables grow from flowers, and this is where bees play their part by helping with a process known as “pollination.” While other insects, animals, and even the wind can help with pollination, bees are the most efficient pollinators we have.

To understand pollination, we need to understand the basic anatomy of a flower. Stick with me, it’s more straightforward than you might think.

The anatomy of a flower

There are some key parts of a flower:

The pistil – the female part of the flower, made up of the stigma, style, and ovary.
The stamens – the male parts of the flower, made up of a filament and anther, which produce pollen.
Seeds – formed after successful pollination and fertilisation of the ovary.

These all play an important role in plant reproduction and food production.

Pollination

While bees visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen, pollen from the anthers (the male parts of the flower) sticks to the tiny hairs that cover their bodies. As bees travel from flower to flower, they transfer grains of pollen onto the stigma, the female part of another flower. From here, the pollen germinates and grows a pollen tube down the style to the ovary.

Inside the ovary are tiny structures called ovules, which contain egg cells. When the pollen reaches the ovules, fertilisation occurs, producing seeds and allowing the plant to reproduce.

But this process needs to happen many times for a fruit to grow. For example, a watermelon may require 500 to 1000 pollen grains to be transferred to produce just one fruit. Although bees can carry large amounts of pollen, it still takes several visits from different bees to fully pollinate a watermelon.

Bees and flowers work in harmony. Flowers provide nectar and pollen as food for bees, and in return bees help pollinate the flowers so they can reproduce, survive, and continue producing food for both bees and us. Isn’t nature amazing?

The bee crisis

Sadly, bees in the UK have been in decline for decades. Much of this crisis has been caused by disruption to the environment and processes used for food production.

According to the Wildlife Trust, three bumblebee species have become extinct in recent decades. The recent European Red List for Bees reports that almost one in ten species of wild bee face extinction (3).

Environment

Bees are disappearing because they are struggling to find enough food and habitat to survive. This is largely due to human activity which has resulted in the loss of natural, green space to housing, and increased competition for food through commercially reared bumblebees.

Pesticides

The work bees do to survive exposes them to pesticides while they collect nectar and pollen.

Neonicotinoids are a group of insecticides used on farms and other landscapes. The substance is absorbed by plants, making their nectar and pollen toxic to bees.

Neonicotinoids are heavily restricted in the EU to protect bees, though limited emergency exemptions have sometimes been granted in certain cases. In the UK, some emergency authorisations have continued for sugar beet since 2021, despite concerns raised by scientists and conservationists (4).

This pesticide affects bees’ nervous systems, ultimately leading to paralysis and death. Professor Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex, has warned that one teaspoon of the chemical is enough to kill 1.25 billion honeybees (5).

What is being done to save our bees?

Experts and activists continue to petition the UK government for a full ban on neonicotinoids.

Supermarkets also have an important role to play. While neonicotinoids are heavily restricted in the EU to protect bees, they are still used in some countries. This means that some imported produce may have been grown using practices or pesticides that can be harmful to bees (6).

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK runs a supermarket campaign in response to growing concern among consumers about the impact of pesticides on both human health and the environment.

PAN UK assesses and ranks supermarkets on their efforts to reduce pesticide use and provides guidance to help them improve. Their website publishes rankings of UK supermarkets based on their pesticide policies.

In addition, a range of campaigns promote the creation of bee-friendly green spaces in homes and communities.

You can help

We need these amazing little creatures so much more than they need us. But human activity has undoubtedly caused them harm. There are small steps we can all take to prevent further loss of our bees and to help them survive.

One of the best ways you can help bees is by making your garden a space where bees can collect pollen and nectar.

Pink gladiolus flowers - bees love gladiolus

Plant flowers

Attract bees into your garden by planting flowers. Choose single, open flowers where you can see the central part as this is where bees can access nectar and pollen. Different bees are active at different times of the year. Some emerge from hibernation as early as February, while others are still flying in November. Therefore, to give bees the best possible chance to thrive, it’s important to grow flowers from late winter to autumn – all year round if possible (7).

Don’t use pesticides

Besides neonicotinoids, there are still many pesticides on supermarket shelves that are toxic to bees, butterflies, bats and other insects and animals. Do your research, read labels and be mindful of what you buy and use in your garden.

Allow an area to overgrow

This is a tough one for those who like a perfectly manicured garden but leaving just a small patch of overgrown lawn and wildflowers will give bees a vital space they can visit. Afterall, this is a tiny sacrifice for the beauty, colour and fresh food bees help bring into our world.

Want to do more to help our environment? Check out our post about responsible use of palm oil.

Amazing bee facts

Bees can travel up to three miles and visit as many as 100 flowers in a single trip.
Bees are covered in around three million hairs, designed to trap pollen.
Each bee produces just a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Bees make honey for their colonies so they can survive through the winter months.
Plants rely on bees and other insects to reproduce and so they have adapted, over time, to become more attractive to them. According to scientists, blue, purple and violet flowers are most likely to attract bees.
There are over 20,000 species of bee in the world and around 270 of these species live in Britain (8).

Is honey vegan-friendly?

This question is often asked and for me, the answer is quite simple. No, honey is not considered vegan. Why? Bees work incredibly hard to make honey as a food source for themselves and their young. Bees make honey so they can survive.

They cleverly preserve it for sustenance during the winter months when there are fewer flowers for pollen and nectar. Nectar, which creates honey, is consumed for energy whereas pollen is needed for protein.

Taking away this source of survival for bees does not align with the principles of veganism which are to avoid cruelty and exploitation of other living creatures.

From my point of view, bees give us so much, we don’t need to take their honey. Honey is for bees.

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