11/06/2026
Pollinators in peril: scientists reveal the hidden human health costs of the world’s disappearing bees.
- - It is the first study of its kind to provide direct evidence of the bond between pollinators and human health.
- - It turned out that pollinators were directly responsible for more than 20% of inhabitants’ vitamin A, vitamin E and folate intake, and 44% of their farming income.
- - Crops and flowers rely on them for survival, but wild bees are declining – and crucial nutrients will go missing from our diets as a result.
- - In 2015, a modelling study in the Lancet found that if all of the world’s pollinators were to collapse, an additional 1.4 million people would die every year from malnutrition-related diseases.
- - Ecologists estimate that about 28,000 medicinal plants, including echinacea for boosting the immune system and chamomile for sleep troubles, are pollinated by insects.
- - This research found that simple interventions, such as planting wildflowers, providing bee nesting sites and reducing pesticides, could help raise farmer income by up to 30%, and diets would improve enough to raise 9% of the population out of a nutrient deficiency.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/10/pollinators-in-peril-scientists-reveal-the-hidden-human-health-costs-of-the-worlds-disappearing-bees-aoe?CMP=share_btn_url&fbclid=IwY2xjawSXhQtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeHtH55Nie72w4kqdudBGhQ07blpQbpETE7vJGVOTWknehoeztpx2qrh920Rw_aem_jIFBXJQ0b58TCS-poMyTlw
Crops and flowers rely on them for survival, but wild bees are declining – and crucial nutrients will go missing from our diets as a result
