'Something real bad is going on': Hundreds of millions of bees have died over the past eight months.

[Tonk]

"The data is showing us this is the worst bee loss in recorded history," Blake Shook, who is one of the top beekeepers.

Bees are critical to the world's food supply. In the United States, they pollinate 75 percent of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables we consume. However, their populations have plunged by 40-50% in recent years. The last eight months have been a stunning and unexplained disaster where hundreds of millions of bees have perished from unknown causes.

CBS writes:

"If this is a multi-year thing, it'll change the way we consume food in the United States," Shook said. "If we lose 80% of our bees every year, the industry cannot survive, which means we cannot pollinate at the scale that we need to produce food in the United States."

One example is almonds. With honeybees pollinating them, almond trees produce two to three thousand pounds of almonds per acre, Shook said. Without that pollination, almond trees produce only 200 pounds of nuts per acre.

"There is no almond crop without honeybees," Shook said.

Ecowatch:

The high rate of decline is more than record reductions in 2024 and is on its way to being the “biggest loss of honeybee colonies in U.S. history,” said Scott McArt, a Cornell University associate professor of entomology, as The Guardian reported.

When beekeepers who did not participate in the survey were factored in, an additional $206.4 million was estimated to have been lost.

“Something real bad is going on this year,” McArt said. “We have been seeing high losses year after year but if anything it is getting worse, which is troubling. Some places are having devastating losses and there was a shortfall in pollination in some almond orchards this year. Whether these impacts will cascade to other crops remains to be seen, it’s certainly possible.”

The USDA, which researched bee populations and this year's honeybee deaths, saw its staffing slashed by Donald Trump. The cuts were so deep that Cornell University stepped in to help with the looming food crisis.

Cornell bee experts are analyzing samples of bees and related material to help identify the cause of unprecedented managed honeybee losses this winter.

snip

The Bee Research Laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland, has collected samples of honeybees, wax, pollen and honey from dead and living hives. The government facility is now testing samples for parasites (such as varroa mites) and viruses. But due to government staffing cuts and the high expense involved with testing samples for pesticides, USDA staff and commercial beekeepers approached McArt to see if the Cornell Chemical Ecology Core Facility (of which McArt is director) could handle pesticide analyses.

“The USDA lab has had cuts, so they simply can’t do a quick turnaround for these pesticide results. And at the same time, it’s very expensive for them,” McArt said.

Elizabeth Hilburn, who may be the only "bee vet," weighs in on what might happen to bees. She writes in The Guardian.

I have clients who have worked with bees for a long time. They say: “I’m seeing brown larvae, it doesn’t smell right, can you come look?” I suit up and I look at their healthy hives first – I’m examining the whole area, looking at bees coming and going, getting a sense of how they look. Then we go to the ones we suspect to be diseased. To avoid stings, I go in there quietly and respectfully, and that makes the bees comfortable. A common disease is European foulbrood. You can often smell it – it’s almost sweet and musky.

snip

The jetstream is much less stable than it used to be. For example, last February was really warm, and wild bees were coming out of hibernation and there was nothing there for them to eat. This is one of the leading risks to bee health – this mismatch in timing. They need access to flowers, but the flowers are not out. This is a huge stressor on animal populations in general.

snip

Honeybees are protected from some environmental pressures because we house them, we feed them, we care for them. It is the wild bees I’m extremely worried about: they don’t have anyone to care for them – they depend on how well the environment is supporting them. I’m concerned about the erratic weather; we have some trends which make it very difficult for honeybees and wild bees.

I feel like every bee is so precious now, especially early in the year. That is often when the wild bee queens are out and may be distressed. And by saving her, that can save a whole colony. So there’s a lot resting on that one bee: if I can help her, I will.

[genxlib]

1. I think this is happening to me

I have a fantastic mango tree that usually produces 300-400 fruits a year of the best damn mango in the land. It is plenty to give away to all my friends and they absolutely rave about it.

The tree looks barren this year. We will be lucky to get 50. I suspect we will lose most of those to the birds and other critters.

I don't remember nearly as many bees out this year.

It makes me sad because mango season is the only thing I look forward to the hotter weather for.

[GardenGnome]

11. Too late for this year

But are you able to buy mason bees?

I'm in Southern BC, and this will be the third year I've bought them. I have six fruit trees, and ten mason bees pollinate all of them, along with any local bees that fly in.

You can keep them refrigerated until the trees are in bloom. I release five at a time, first for the cherry trees, and then for the apple and plum trees.

You place the cocoons in a bee house, and supposedly, they return to that bee house to lay their eggs which hatch the following year, although there's no guarantee of that. A friend of mine has a mason bee house packed with cocoons laid the previous year. Another, like myself, has had no luck with the bee housing.

This year, I'm trying something that did work for her. She picked up a log, into which she drilled quarter inch holes, and then stood the log upright, facing south. Her mason bees have used the log for their cocoons.

[genxlib]

16. I did not know that was something I could do.

I am in the far corner of the continent from you but it does seem like they are native here as well so it could work.

Looking into it.

Thanks for the advice.

[GardenGnome]

17. You're welcome

Hope it works for you.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. I have been predicting this for many years. We will kill our species with our hubris.

[LaMouffette]

3. This may seem like "Let them eat cake," but would it help the early spring bees if people/communities built large

greenhouses in which to grow flowers to bloom in early spring and allowed access during the day to bees?

We have flowering crab apple trees in our yard that the bees adore. I have been noticing a lot fewer bees in recent years, though. I hope that people pay attention before it's too late.

Thank you for your post! This is literally life or death for us as a species.

[Bohunk68]

4. Interesting topic

Now I need to talk with a local, who just opened a bee-keeping business on the other side of the hill. For the past couple of years or so, had been hearing talk about declining populations. SUNY Cobleskill is in the next town and will stop in and check. Meanwhile, funding is cut and part of the cuts are food-related. Food-related cutbacks elsewhere even though it is an expanding population. A lot of foil has been used to make sense of it all.

[ButchMcMuffin]

5. While I'm not happy and very worried

About the loss of so many bees...

I can't say the same for almond trees. They're nothing but a waste of water

[rubbersole]

6. Monsanto sez "Nothing to see here, let's talk about the border crisis."

[kimbutgar]

7. I read about this months ago and went out and brought some extra bottles of honey because it will become

More expensive or not available in the upcoming future.

[SpankMe]

8. Dang. I thought the bee decline had slowed. I guess not. n/t

[Ol Janx Spirit]

9. I stopped in to pay a bill the other day in person and there was...

...an older lady in the line next to me loudly proclaiming that she was sick and tired of hearing about climate change. God--she said--had control of it all and she she just didn't want to hear anymore about it. So, thoughts and prayers for the bees too I guess? /s
And this isn't ignorance or outright stupidity--these people know the climate is changing due to human causes--it is simply an excuse to do nothing about it. They simply cannot be bothered to even think about the world they are leaving their grandchildren. Evil....

[BonnieJW]

10. It had yo be a

Combination of pesticides and climate change. I wonder if the bee experience is the same world wide

[harumph]

12. Call them the traveling bees.

Bad transit conditions, over wet conditions, varroa mites and some pesticides to top it all off. I don't think it's any ONE thing.
Outside of commercial farming, we can help by planting flowers and blooming shrubs that bees like. As long as there are local populations of honey bees that are OK, then there's hope. The way we grow the majority of our food is just fucked - and we all know that. More locally grown produce with more community involvement. Local restrictions on pesticides are needed. Not saying that commercial operations can be replaced - but more can be done locally if people are committed.

[NJCher]

13. after reading this post

I thought about what I could do in the community gardens for bees. I found out there is an association called the Essex County Beekeepers Society and they are having a meeting on April 8. I am going to attend and see what they think I could do. I have 3 substantial gardens, with around 70 or so raised beds.

https://ecbs.squarespace.com

I could also use our effort as outreach to others in our area, educating them through working with the students. Students go home and tell their parents what they are doing, so this is a good method.

[Botany]

14. Want to protect honeybees? Protect our native pollinators and our native plants.

This will protect our native bees too. Bumblebee, green sweat
bees, leaf Cutter bee, and ...

Xerces Society ... Restoring Native Pollinators too

Doug Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home & Our Last Best Hope.

Doug's National Backyard National Park Program

Do not worry about Round Up as much and limit the
Use of any insecticides and avoid non native invasive
plants.

[Cirsium]

15. European honey bees

European honey bees are useful for maximizing fruit set. But watching the trees get pollinated I always see many native bee, wasp and fly species on the blossoms. Also, there are thousands of "feral" deciduous fruit trees in this district, and they are usually covered with fruit despite there being no European honey bees near them. Pre-Colombian North America ecosystems were capable of supporting large populations, and those ecosystems were managed sustainably.

Also, most of our food supply is not dependent upon European honey bees. Grains are wind pollinated and are the largest share of food crops - wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, soy, barley, rye. Tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries, squash, and melons are not dependent on honey bees. Root crops don't require honey bees, nor generally do vegetative food plants like lettuces and cabbages. Grapes are wind-pollinated, figs are wasp-pollinated, commercial bananas are propagated asexually. Wild bananas are bat pollinated as are some Agaves.

Recently, when I talk to growers they are interested in developing areas in the orchard that will support native pollinators. Pesticides are the problem there. All of the spiders and assassin bugs and other predatory insects are killed off, so there are no check on pest insect outbreaks. A healthy habitat might have as many as a million spiders per acre. Of course, the pests are mostly alien invasive species themselves, all part of a seriously disrupted and collapsing environment.

I am working in habitat restoration now, and last year we noticed an alarming decline in seed and fruit production on the native plant species we grow and monitor. Bumble bees, flies, butterflies, moths, wasps, hummingbirds, skippers, and beetles all play a roll in cross-pollination. We often watch the natural controls on insect outbreaks in real time, for example leaf miner outbreaks attracting parasitic wasps which put a check on them.

Saving European honey bees is about saving a particular type of industrial agriculture. Honey is a popular consumer item, of course, ad that helps with the public relations for the bees. But they don't belong in North American ecosystems and are a disruptive force.

The reality is that we try to kill all insects everywhere all the time, we wantonly destroy natural habitat, and then we wonder what happened to the handful of celebrity species, like the European honey bee and the Monarch butterfly.

They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot