Climate change could dramatically reduce the menu available to Europe’s honey bees. A new study published in Nature Communications, under the INSIGNIA-EU project, analyzed 2,500 pollen samples collected from 310 apiaries across all 27 EU countries during the 2023. By identifying the plants bees rely on and linking them to temperature and rainfall patterns, researchers assessed how future climate scenarios may reshape bee forage.

The findings are stark: rising temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten to push many key plant species beyond their climatic limits. The combined impact of heat and drought poses the greatest danger, particularly in southern and Mediterranean regions already prone to dry summers. Northern Europe may fare slightly better, but it is not immune to long-term warming.

A loss of floral diversity could weaken bee nutrition, reduce colony growth, and disrupt flowering schedules that bees depend on. Scientists warn that shrinking food supplies may have cascading effects on pollination and ecosystems across the continent.

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