What Should We Teach to Promote Bee Conservation Awareness? Insights from the Perception of Brazilian Middle School Students

Pollination service is a global issue with significant impacts on ecosystem maintenance and food production. The decline of bees has highlighted the importance of public awareness and conservation policies to ensure food security and the sustainable use of such services. In this study, we investigated the awareness about bee diversity and pollination services among young students in a medium-sized city in the Cerrado region, the main agricultural frontier in Central Brazil. We applied questionnaires and multiple correspondence analyses to evaluate students' information on the subject, in three middle schools in Uberlândia-MG. Honeybees, a non-native species in Brazil, were the most cited bee by students (47.8%). While most students believed that bees should be protected (93.14%), only 66.66% recognized their importance to humans. Although 72.28% of the participants claimed to know what pollination is, nearly half of them (49%) did not fully understand the process and considered it unimportant for people's lives. Participants who recognized solitary native bees showed a better understanding of the pollination process. Our findings indicate that schools, the internet, and television are the main sources of information on bees for young students in Central Brazil. Understanding people's perception of bees can guide environmental education and citizen science projects and inform decision-making for biodiversity conservation actions. In this article, we identify essential elements for teaching a holistic view of bees and pollination promoting the comprehension of their importance.