This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Sheep grazing, rather than honey bees, could be the bigger threat to wild pollinators on Scotland's moorlands, according to a new University of Bristol-led study. The research, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, has found that grazing in spring can remove much of the nectar emerging bumblebees need, while commercial honey bee hives introduced during the summer heather flowering period have a much smaller impact.
Commercial beekeepers across Europe regularly move hives onto heather moorland during the summer flowering of ling heather. This has raised concerns about competition between honey bees and wild pollinators, including bumblebees, butterflies, moths and beetles. To find the best way to protect them, researchers from Bristol's School of Biological Sciences surveyed plant and pollinator communities at 20 moorland sites across Scotland over a full flowering season (May to September).
They compared plots with and without introduced honey bee apiaries, as well as land that was actively grazed and burned using 'muirburn' practices with land left to regenerate naturally. The team recorded more than 1.6 million individual flowers and more than 5,000 plant-pollinator interactions across 58 plant species and 405 pollinator species. They also studied 10 sites that hosted commercial apiaries, with an average of 34 hives each, during the heather bloom.
The team found that spring grazing by sheep removed almost two-thirds (63%) less vital spring nectar for bumblebees than ungrazed sites, while the introduction of honey bee hives had only a modest effect on the foraging behavior of wild pollinators. Their presence caused only a small change to the structure of plant-pollinator networks and had no measurable effect on the quantity or quality of pollen collected by bumblebees. Maisie Brett, the study's lead author, said, "We expected honey bees to be the main threat to wild bees and other heathland pollinators, but it turns out how we manage these habitats may matter far more.
Managing livestock with pollinators in mind could be more impactful than restricting beekeeping." The researchers recommend carefully managing or avoiding sheep grazing on heathland in spring to protect blaeberry flowers, introducing honey bee hives only during peak heather flowering, and maintaining a patchwork of habitat types (which careful grazing can facilitate) to support wild pollinator communities. Brett added, "The findings are particularly timely given the recent Scottish Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act (2024), which now restricts heather burning, and the current Scottish Pollinator Strategy, which does not currently address the potential impact of managed honey bees on wild pollinators." Maisie F. Brett et al, Heathland pollinator communities are more strongly influenced by land management than by honeybee competition, Journal of Applied Ecology (2026).
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.70569 Journal information: Journal of Applied Ecology BA art history, MA material culture. Former museum editor, paramedic, and transplant coordinator. Editing for Science X since 2021.
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