Declining bee populations could be saved by sunflower pollen, researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst find.

Humans rely on bees for more than just honey.

Food production, ecosystems and the economy are all dependent on the survival of our six-legged friends.

For these reasons, scientists have been longing for a solution to declining bee populations worldwide. And after a long search, they might finally have an answer.

“We’ve tried other monofloral pollens, or pollens coming from one flower, but we seem to have hit the jackpot with sunflower pollen,” Rebecca Irwin, a professor of applied ecology at NC State and co-senior author of the study, said in a statement.

“None of the others we’ve studied have had this consistent positive effect on bumble bee health,” she continued.

The study

The researchers found that when two different species of bees ate sunflower pollen, they had much lower rates of infection by specific pathogens.

Bumble bee colonies that were fed sunflower pollen were proven healthier than colonies that fed on other flower pollens.

Specifically, the sunflower pollen was proven to reduce infection by the pathogen crithidia bombi in bumble bees. European honey bees that consumed sunflower pollen were protected from a different pathogen called nosema ceranae.

Because both of these microscopic killers have wreaked havoc on bee populations, sunflower pollen looks to be a promising solution to slowing down population decline.

The study did, however, leave the researchers with some questions.

They observed that honey bees eating the sunflower pollen died at the same rate as honey bees that weren’t fed the pollen and at four times higher than honey bees that consumed buckwheat pollen.

Bumble bees did not experience the same mortality rate.

The full paper describing the study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

What can we do?

On a large scale, there have already been some efforts taken to make sunflower pollen a regular bee food.

Every year, there are around 2 million acres in the U.S. and 10 million acres in Europe dedicated to growing sunflowers, Jonathan Giacomini, a doctoral student in applied ecology at NC State and corresponding author of the study, said in a statement.

But on an individual scale, there is more that people can do.

“Because many of us live in very disturbed and urban/suburban habitats, one thing everyone can do is plant pollinator-friendly gardens,” said Irwin. “Our work suggests that sunflower that is part of a diverse wildflower planting for bees may provide medicinal benefits along with food.”

The researchers note that sunflower pollen should not be a bees’ only food source, because it is low in protein and some amino acids.

“But sunflower could be a good addition to a diverse wildflower population for bees, especially generalists like bumble bees and honey bees,” Irwin said in a statement.

What’s next?

“Our next step in this research is to uncover the mechanism underlying the medicinal effect of sunflower pollen on bee pathogens,” Irwin said.

The researchers also intend to further their work by examining whether sunflower pollen would have positive effects on the health of other bee species.

“We don’t know if sunflower pollen is helping the host bees fight off pathogens or if sunflower pollen does something to the pathogens,” Irwin said in a statement. “Future research is aimed at figuring this out.”