WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 America鈥檚 honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record, with beekeepers losing nearly half of their managed colonies, an annual bee survey found.
But using costly and Herculean measures to create new colonies, beekeepers are somehow keeping afloat. Thursday鈥檚 University of Maryland and Auburn University found that even though 48% of colonies were lost in the year that ended April 1, the number of United States honeybee colonies "remained relatively stable.鈥
Honeybees are crucial to the food supply, pollinating more than 100 of the crops we eat, including nuts, vegetables, berries, citrus and melons. Scientists said a combination of , , and climate change keep causing large die-offs.
Last year鈥檚 48% annual loss is up from the previous year鈥檚 loss of 39% and the 12-year average of 39.6%, but it鈥檚 not as high as 2020-2021鈥檚 50.8% mortality rate, according to the survey funded and administered by the nonprofit research group Bee Informed Partnership. Beekeepers told the surveying scientists that 21% loss over the winter is acceptable and more than three-fifths of beekeepers surveyed said their losses were higher than that.
鈥淭his is a very troubling loss number when we barely manage sufficient colonies to meet pollination demands in the U.S.,鈥 said former government bee scientist Jeff Pettis, president of the global beekeeper association Apimondia that wasn鈥檛 part of the study. 鈥淚t also highlights the hard work that beekeepers must do to rebuild their colony numbers each year."
The overall bee colony population is relatively steady because commercial beekeepers split and restock their hives, finding or buying new queens, or even starter packs for colonies, said University of Maryland bee researcher Nathalie Steinhauer, the survey鈥檚 lead author. It's an expensive and time consuming process.
The prognosis is not as bad as 15 years ago because beekeepers have learned how to rebound from big losses, she said.
鈥淭he situation is not really getting worse, but it鈥檚 also not really getting better,鈥 Steinhauer said. 鈥淚t is not a bee apocalypse.鈥
Despite big annual losses the situation is a far cry from 2007 when many bee experts expected an end to managed pollination said U.S. Department Agriculture research entomologist Jay Evans, who wasn鈥檛 part of the survey.
鈥淭here are threats certainly in the environment and honeybees have persisted,鈥 Evans said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think honeybees will go extinct but I think they will always have these sort of challenges.鈥
Some commercial beekeepers who have succeeded in the past lost as much as 80% of their colonies this past year, while other beekeepers did well, it varied so much, Evans said. Pettis, who has 150 colonies on Maryland鈥檚 Eastern shore, had less than 18% loss, saying he used organic acids for mite control.
The parasitic mite that helps transmit viruses is the chief culprit, but bad weather and queen issues were also big problems in the past year, Steinhauer said. Pesticides also make things worse because it makes bees more vulnerable to diseases and less likely to seek food, she said.
鈥淚t really can be like death by a thousand cuts with the most obvious one being varroa,鈥 Steinhauer said.
The mite varroa is a flat creature that crawls on the bee 鈥 it would be the equivalent of a frisbee or flat softball on human bodies 鈥 Evans said. The mite seems to make it easier for viruses to attack and kill bees, he and Steinhauer said.
It used to take large amounts of varroa, such as in 60% of a colony, to cause virus problems, but now even small infestations at 1% or 2% in a colony can cause massive problems, Steinhauer said.
鈥淲e are fighting this evolving enemy,鈥 Steinhauer said.
Another problem is landscapes that have only one crop or homogenous landscapes which deprive bees of food, while pesticides and bouts of extreme weather also have caused problems.
For example in the Washington, D.C. area unusual 80-degree warmth in January brought some bees out of their normal winter routine and then when it turned cool again, they had problems, Evans said.
鈥淭he impact of climate change on bee colony survival is real and can go undetected,鈥 Pettis said in an email.
The demand for pollination from commercial bee colonies is growing even as the beekeepers have to work harder to make up for losses, Steinhauer said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says comes from insect-pollinated plants and the .
鈥淭here is this whole side of our agricultural industry that relies on these colonies,鈥 Steinhauer said. 鈥淎nd the fact that every year the commercial beekeepers have to invest so much more effort to keep those numbers up because they have to fulfill those pollination contracts puts a lot of stress on those beekeepers and the bees.鈥 ___
Follow AP鈥檚 climate and environment coverage at
___
Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP鈥檚 climate initiative The AP is solely responsible for all content.
