On a stretch of roadside in Jammu’s Himalayan foothills, a small patch of wildflowers was buzzing with activity. Blue-banded bees (Amegilla), small carpenter bees (Ceratina), and even large, glossy carpenter bees (Xylocopa) clung to petals, feeding undisturbed as vehicles passed by.

The patch was barely a few steps across the busy road, and yet it hosted multiple native bee species at once.

“It was one of the most surprising moments of our study,” says Yousra Mukhtar, a researcher at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, (SKUAST), Jammu. The study, published in October 2025, explored how non-honeybee (non-Apis) bee diversity shifts across different environments in the Jammu region of the northwestern Himalayas. The aim was to understand how native bee communities respond to increasing human influence. The team had expected to find rich bee diversity in undisturbed forests or meadows, places with no human interference. However, repeated field surveys told a different story.

Over two years of field surveys, Mukhtar and her colleagues repeatedly found that moderately disturbed habitats, including roadside vegetation and agro-ecosystems were drawing in large numbers of native bees, feeding on flowering weeds and plants that had sprung up on their own.

“It was a reminder that biodiversity does not always conform to our expectations of ‘pristine’ landscapes,” Mukhtar says.

Pollinators play a crucial role in plant reproduction and food production, and the Himalayan foothill region is especially important for them. Where different climate zones and elevations meet, the region supports a mix of habitats, including forests, meadows, farms, and roadside vegetation that provide diverse flowering resources.

At the same time, agriculture, urban expansion, and infrastructure development are rapidly transforming the mountainous area. “This makes the region ideal for understanding how pollinators respond to disturbance,” Mukhtar says. “Studying pollinator diversity here helps us understand biodiversity patterns in a mountain ecosystem and provides insights that are critical for food security and sustainable land management under changing environmental conditions.”

Yet, despite their importance, most pollination studies in the Himalayas have focused on honeybees, while many other types of native bees are poorly studied.

“Native (non-Apis) bees are often the main pollinators where managed hives are absent,” says Virendra Prasad Uniyal, an entomologist and former professor at the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun, who is not associated with the study. “These bees are typically solitary, active in cooler and more variable weather, and well adapted to mid and high-elevation conditions. They are especially important for crops such as apple, plum, peach, mustard, buckwheat, and pulses, as well as for wild plants that sustain ecosystem health.”

What do the study findings say

Over two years (2022-2023), researchers recorded 1,087 bees belonging to 21 species across seven genera: Bombus, Amegilla, Thyreus, Xylocopa, Ceratina, Braunsapis, and Melissodes. They assessed species richness, abundance, and ecological diversity using standard biodiversity indices such as the Shannon–Wiener index (which measures how many species are present and how evenly individuals are distributed among them), and Simpson’s diversity index (which measures how likely it is that two individuals randomly chosen belong to different species), along with statistical analyses to compare habitats.

Using standard biodiversity measures such as the Shannon–Wiener and Simpson indices, the researchers found that agroecosystems and roadside vegetation supported higher bee diversity than undisturbed meadows and grasslands.

However, the response to disturbance was genus-specific. Bumblebees (Bombus) species were more abundant in undisturbed environments, while blue-banded bees (Amegilla), cuckoo bees (Thyreus), carpenter bees (Xylocopa), and small carpenter bees (Ceratina) were notably more prevalent in highly disturbed landscapes.

Mukhtar says the pattern reflects resource availability rather than disturbance itself. “Farms and roadside areas in the Jammu foothills often provide a continuous and diverse supply of flowering plants — crops, weeds, and wild flora — resulting in longer blooming periods than natural meadows,” she adds. “This steady availability of nectar and pollen likely explains the higher bee diversity we recorded.”

Roadside vegetation can also act as micro-refuges, as these areas are often less intensively managed and support a mix of native and spontaneous flowering species. “Diversified agroecosystems with mixed cropping systems can offer nesting sites and floral resources across seasons,” she notes.

However, Mukhtar says this does not mean all human-modified landscapes are beneficial. “The pattern we observed reflects moderately disturbed habitats, not highly intensified systems,” she adds. “In landscapes dominated by monocropping and heavy chemical use, pollinator diversity typically declines. Some non-Apis bees are adaptable, but adaptability should not be mistaken for long-term ecological security.”

Uniyal describes the research as valuable for broadening the understanding of where native bees persist in Himalayan landscapes. “One of its key strengths is that it moves beyond forests and protected areas and documents bee diversity in farms, field margins, and roadsides,” he says. “In the northwestern Himalaya, conservation cannot be separated from working landscapes.”

At the same time, he adds, that there are some limitations which should be interpreted carefully. Many such studies are based on short sampling windows which may miss seasonal and inter-annual variation (changes across different seasons and from one year to another).

“Human-modified habitats can show high species richness while lacking specialist or high-elevation taxa (specialist bee species depend on very specific plants or habitats, and high-elevation taxa are species adapted to colder, mountain environments that depend on intact ecosystems). Detection bias is also a concern, as bees are easier to observe in open habitats than dense forests. And the long-term stability of these populations remains uncertain under increasing pesticide use, road expansion, and climate change.”

Can native bees fill the pollination gap?

As honeybee populations decline, the question arises: how realistic is it to rely more on non-Apis bees?

Experts say non-Apis bees contribute substantially to pollination services and may outperform honeybees for certain crops and wild plants. “Many are more efficient pollinators on a per-visit basis because of their foraging behaviour, body size, and close evolutionary relationships with local flora,” Mukhtar says. “Bumblebees and carpenter bees can access flowers that honeybees cannot, and species capable of buzz pollination — where bees vibrate flowers to release pollen — are important for crops such as tomatoes and brinjal.”

In cooler, cloudy, or high-altitude conditions typical of the Himalayas, native bees often remain active when honeybees reduce foraging. However, they cannot simply replace honeybees without supportive habitats. “Their ability to buffer pollination loss — that is, to compensate when honeybee activity declines — depends on the availability of nesting sites, diverse floral resources, and reduced pesticide exposure,” the researcher emphasises. “Unlike managed honeybees, native bees are not transported or supplemented artificially; their populations must be sustained locally.”

India’s pollination policies still focus on honeybees

Uniyal adds that rather than replacing honeybees, the conservationists and policy makers should think about strengthening native pollinator communities. In many mountain farms, he notes, native bees already carry out most pollination without any management. “Simple measures such as conserving nesting habitats, leaving undisturbed soil patches, and reducing pesticide use during flowering can significantly improve their contribution,” he says. “Even small, low-cost actions can make a visible difference.”

Yet current pollination efforts in India largely overlook native pollinators. He adds, the policies and programmes tend to focus on honeybee keeping and hive rentals, while non-Apis bees receive little direct attention. “This honeybee-centric approach may weaken long-term pollination security, particularly in regions like Kashmir, where native bees are more effective during cold early-spring conditions.”

Climate change and pollinator risks

Native bees are especially important for apple pollination in Kashmir, where flowering occurs in early spring (March–April) when temperatures are low and honeybee activity is limited. “Bumble bees and solitary bees remain active under these conditions, ensuring effective cross-pollination, better fruit set, improved size, and higher yields,” says Sheikh Khursheed, an entomologist and assistant professor at Ambri Apple research station, Shopian, SKUAST, Kashmir.

Climate change, however, is adding new pressures. Altered flowering times can lead to mismatches between bloom periods and bee activity. The temperature fluctuations disrupt emergence and foraging behaviour, while habitat degradation and reduced floral continuity limit resources.

“Over the last few years, during surveys in the mid-Himalayan belt, we have noticed that flowering in some wild shrubs is occurring earlier, but bumblebee activity at those elevations has not always matched this shift,” Uniyal says. “In one site, we saw abundant bloom but very few bee visits, compared to earlier records. Such phenological mismatches, likely linked to warmer winters and erratic rainfall, could affect both crop yields and wild plant reproduction over time.”

To address these challenges, experts argue for region-specific, climate-resilient pollinator conservation. “Orchards should move beyond monocultures by promoting flower strips, hedgerows, and semi-natural vegetation to ensure continuous nectar and pollen availability,” Khursheed says. “Protecting nesting sites — bare ground, dead wood, bunds, and undisturbed patches is equally important, as is reducing excessive orchard-floor disturbance.”

Stronger regulation of pesticide use and wider adoption of integrated pest management are essential to minimise harm to beneficial insects. Farmers could be supported through incentives to maintain polliniser varieties, native flowering plants, and ecological buffer zones.

Awareness of pollinators is slowly improving, he says, with increasing mention in biodiversity action plans and nature-based solutions. “The next step is to move from recognition to practical action,” Khursheed adds. “Native pollinators may not be completely ignored, but they remain under-represented. Recognising and supporting their role is crucial in climate-sensitive landscapes like the Himalayas, where they underpin both ecosystem health and local livelihoods.”

Read more: How hoverflies quietly sustain ecosystems [Commentary]

Banner image: Amegilla zonata. Representative image by Tisha Mukherjee via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Aditi Tandon Senior Production Editor

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AgricultureAgroecologyBiodiversityEnvironmentFoodHimalayasInsectsWildlifeJammu and Kashmir

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