Many stressors plague bee populations including habitat fragmentation and degradation, as well as pathogens and pesticide exposure. With bee communities at risk, conservation efforts are imperative. Although recent research has examined bee communities across cities, few studies have analyzed variation in human attitudes toward and perceptions of bees, or how these perspectives might influence bee conservation. We therefore analyzed residents’ attitudes toward and perceptions of bees, specifically in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Primarily drawing upon 2017 survey data (n = 496, 39% response rate), we posed the following questions: 1) What cognitive, environmental, and social factors explain whether people like or dislike bees? and 2) How do attitudes and perceptions about bees relate to land management practices, specifically landscaping choices, herbicide and pesticide use, and desert plantings? Overall, attitudes toward bees were mostly neutral with a slight trend toward dislike but most residents did not believe bees were problematic at their homes. Additional findings reveal that risk perceptions, ecological worldviews, and pet ownership significantly explained attitudes toward bees. Moreover, people who live closer to desert parks had relatively positive attitudes toward bees. Regarding yard management practices, both attitudes toward and perceptions of bees were positively correlated with adding desert plants to residential yards. Moreover, people who use pesticides had more negative attitudes toward bees. Our results indicate conservation potential for urban bee populations, for example, by planting native vegetation in residential areas near desert preserves. We hope this study will result in more attitudinal research on bee species and other understudied urban wildlife.

许多压力源困扰着蜜蜂种群，包括生境破碎化和退化以及病原体和农药暴露。由于蜂群处于危险之中，保护工作势在必行。尽管最近的研究检查了整个城市的蜂群，但很少有研究分析人类对蜂的态度和看法的变化，或者这些观点如何影响蜂的养护。因此，我们分析了居民对蜜蜂的态度和看法，特别是在亚利桑那州凤凰城。我们主要利用2017年的调查数据（n = 496，回应率39％）提出以下问题：1）哪些认知，环境和社会因素解释了人们喜欢还是不喜欢蜜蜂？2）对蜜蜂的态度和看法如何与土地管理实践（尤其是园林绿化选择）相关联，除草剂和农药的使用以及沙漠化种植？总体而言，对蜜蜂的态度大多是中立的，略有不喜欢的趋势，但大多数居民并不认为蜜蜂在他们的家中有问题。其他发现表明，风险感知，生态世界观和宠物拥有权显着解释了对蜜蜂的态度。此外，居住在沙漠公园附近的人们对蜜蜂有相对积极的态度。关于院子管理实践，人们对蜜蜂的态度和看法与在院子里增加荒漠植物成正相关。此外，使用农药的人对蜜蜂的态度更消极。我们的结果表明，例如，通过在沙漠保护区附近的居民区种植原生植被，可以保护城市蜜蜂种群。