Soaring loss rates in US beekeeping threaten economic viability and food security

As per an annual bee survey conducted jointly by the University of Maryland and Auburn University, honeybee colonies in the US were decimated in 2022, facing their second-largest death toll on record.

The report found that from April 1, 2022, to April 1, 2023, 48% of managed honey bee colonies were lost, shifting considerably higher from 39% in the previous survey.

This is also well above the reported 12-year average of 39.6% and approached the record 50.8% as per the 2020-21 survey.

In recent years, professional beekeepers have refined their techniques to adapt successfully to deep-loss situations which shall hopefully provide a much-needed cushion for the current season.

Having said that, there is high pressure on the industry to recover these losses.

The survey numbers are subject to revision and final estimates may change.

The collapse

During the full year, managed honey bee colony losses were estimated at 48.2% with a 95% confidence interval of 40.7% – 56.0%.

In the summer, i.e. from 1 April 2022 – 1 October 2022, losses were estimated at 24.9% with a 95% confidence interval of  18.0% – 31.7%.

Importantly, this was broadly in line with previous years and was just 1.1% higher than the last survey.

It should be noted that beekeepers in the US are classified as backyard (up to 50 colonies), sideline (51-500), and commercial scale (>500 colonies).

Summer

According to the study, in these summer months, ‘queen issues’ were the primary cause of colony deaths.

Commercial beekeepers who account for 89.7% of surveyed colonies despite only making up 1.4% of respondents, marked ‘varroa’, a flat-shaped mite, as being just as frequent a cause as ‘queen issues.’

These tiny mites inject viruses into bees and even small infestations have a devastating impact on colony health.

Other crucial factors that were mentioned in the survey included ‘adverse weather’ and ‘starvation.’  

Winter

In the winter season, i.e., from 1 October 2022 – 1 April 2023, 37.4% of managed colonies were estimated to be lost, with a 95% confidence interval of 28.6% – 48.1%.

The winter loss rate was sharply higher, rising 13.2% above the previous survey.

Over three-fifths of respondents believed that their losses were above “acceptable” standards.

Full-year

Across the entire year, the ‘varroa’ infestation was highlighted as the most prominent reason for the loss of a colony.

Referring to the ongoing challenges of tackling mites, University of Maryland bee researcher Nathalie Steinhauer said,

We are fighting this evolving enemy.

Other concerns among beekeepers included the heavy use of pesticides which may also impact the health of bee populations, the lack of diverse crops which reduces nutritional sources for the colony and the invisible impacts of climate change.

Impact on agriculture

Honeybees are central to pollination for more than 100 crops such as nuts, vegetables, and berries.

The USDA estimates that 35% of our diets come from pollinated plants, of which bees are expected to be responsible for approximately four-fifths. 

Regarding the knock-on effects that weaker bee populations can have on agriculture and the broader food system, Jeff Pettis, a former US government bee scientist and president of Apimondia, a global beekeeping association, added,

This is a very troubling loss number when we barely manage sufficient colonies to meet pollination demands in the U.S.

It requires significant investments to rebuild colonies each year including purchasing new queens and using starter packs to kickstart operations.

In positive news, the USDA found that total bee colony numbers remained stable at approximately 2.6 million.

Steinhauer noted,

The situation is not really getting worse, but it’s also not really getting better…It is not a bee apocalypse.

While loss rates remain high, the beekeeping industry will continue to struggle to replenish its operations, which may in turn cause pressure on food production, especially if an increasing share of commercial operations begin to become economically unviable.