A recently completed census reveals there are more species of bees worldwide than there are species of mammals and birds combined.
This new count of bee species, conducted by John S. Ascher of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, comes from a list he compiled of more than 19,200 described bee species.
"Most people know of honey bees and a few bumble bees, but we have documented that there are actually more species of bees than of birds and mammals put together," Ascher said.
Ascher's census documents 2,000 more described species than the most recent definitive list published eight years ago.
Counting the world's bees is important because they are critical to pollinating crops. Honey bees, such as Apis mellifera, are the most economically important pollinators. But most bees don't make honey or live in hives.
Honey bee numbers have dropped precipitously in recent years due to an unexplained phenomenon dubbed "colony collapse disorder," which has wiped out hives throughout the United States.
Source: Xinhua\agencies
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