For the first time, Europe’s wild honeybees are listed as endangered; researchers warn some populations could fall by a median 56% within 10 years without new swarms from managed hives

For decades, most people assumed wild honeybees in Europe no longer existed. That assumption has now been turned on its head, and the finding is concerning. A 2026 study published in Conservation Science and Practice by researchers Patrick Kohl and Benjamin Rutschmann shows that free-living colonies of the western honeybee still exist in the wild, but are quickly disappearing. Models used in the study suggest that if beekeeping stops providing new swarms to the wild population, wild populations across Europe could drop by some 56 percent within 10 years. That modeled decline is steep enough that the wild honeybee has now been reclassified as endangered within the European Union on the IUCN Red List, the first time this has happened, according to the Honey Bee Watch coalition that led the reassessment.

Why this news came as a surprise