US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause
US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause
US Department of Agriculture calls in university to help study decline as Trump administration staff cuts sting
Summary
US honeybee deaths hit a record high, with beekeepers losing over 60% of colonies this winter.
The crisis threatens pollination of key crops and has led to financial ruin for many beekeepers. Scientists cite climate change, habitat loss, pesticide use, varroa mites, and poor handling as potential causes.
The USDA is investigating the latest losses, but Trump-era staff cuts have slowed research, prompting Cornell University to assist.
Despite increased colony numbers from rising beekeeper interest, loss rates continue to surge, endangering agriculture and ecosystems.
It’s definitely pesticide. Plus a lack of plant diversity. If farmers focused on building strips of natives bordering their fields honeybees wouldn’t even be necessary. Honeybees are an invasive species in the US. There are thousands of amazing American bee species that would pollinate our crops if we leave a little room for them, and stopped using pesticides and herbicides everywhere, all they need is a small amount of habitat.
Where I live, in a very large city, there is a ban on roundup and we have no issues with a lack of bees, as long as there’s not acres of lawn.
I’m an ecologist and I used to work at a botanical garden. we had a bee researcher who found 120 species of native bees, plus tons of wild honeybee colonies breaking off new ones every year. He believed it was the plant diversity in the gardens that contributed to the number of species.
IIRC, there was a study a few years ago that basically shrieked "IT'S THE NEONICOTINOIDS, IDIOT", and the response seems to have been "well, yes, but we make money selling that, so find something else to blame, dumbass."
I'm in central California and our insect populations have cratered HARD. Used to be that you couldn't drive east-west across the San Joaquin valley without getting the front of your car called in bugs; it hasn't been a problem at all for about two years now. I've seen probably a 95% decline in butterflies and bee-like insects; that is, I see about 1/20th of the butterflies I used to. This is deeply worrying. I had a dude come and offer to flush my lawn with pesticide to get all of the bugs out of it, and I took a moment to calmly talk to him about how he's contributing to complete ecological collapse.
...i drove from the gulf coast to northern california twenty-five years ago and had to thoroughly clean my windshield of bugs every fuel stop, which was pretty typical of road trips for thirty years prior; i can't remember the last time i've had to clean my windshield of anything other than dust since the mid-2000s...
The specific study I remember was that the Neonicotinoids weren't outright killing them, but weakening them enough for a virus transmitted by a mite would. Not that I don't think this class of pesticide should be restricted or outright banned, one simple solution is to not spray during bloom. They also found the beta acids from hops would repel or kill the mites that transmitted the virus.
Scientists cite climate change, habitat loss, pesticide use, varroa mites, and poor handling as potential causes.
Probably there's not one main cause, it's all of those and possibly more "small" causes that all need action to counter them.
Was personally just looking around and thinking "Where the fuck are all the bees?". They're normally extremely active in my area this time of year, and am devastated to hear this.
There's a guy I know of who keeps bees, and while there are some people nearby who get pissy at him every time they see a bee, most people love how well all the flowers and gardens grow nearby and understand why they do.
This past year I went to someone's house nearby and their tree was blooming, but didn't look nearly as good as usual. And then I noticed I couldn't hear any bees.
When that tree has flowers, it's filled with so many bees you can hear it buzzing from the road about 300m away.
Now silence.
I haven't seen a bee around where I live in over a year. And I'm outside a lot in the spring and summer. Usually I get a few buzzing over me when I'm out in my hammock, but I have yet to hear one this year. I'm hoping they're just "sleeping in" a bit but I fear I already know the truth...
Pesticides and climate destruction?
Waiting for the next headline to have "Experts suggest" this.
While half of america is like "saving bees is tax dollar fraud. Kill the bees!"
The bees were just lazy and couldn’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The survivors will surely be stronger.
I think it is embarrassment; they know what is happening to the US. They don't want any part in perpetuating the cycle.
I'm guessing pesticide usage is probably killing a lot more bugs than we realize. Bees are one of a number of pollinators. Wasps, moths, bats, hummingbirds, and other creatures also play a role.
Between destruction of habitat, overuse of pesticides, and climate change making things hotter/drier/easier for diseases to spread, I think those are probably the main factors.
It's difficult to find a pesticide, even one intended for casual gardeners, that doesn't advertise that it kills hundreds of different types of insects.
People.
It's people.
It's burnout. They see the headlines everyday, and the flowers just don't seem as bright as they used to.
that is fine, Trump orders retracting word pesticides from every article, done.
I got hella bees that come and pollinate these holly shrubs in my backyard
Fucking holly. Spreads like a weed where I live.
It’s the guns, stupid. Stop mounting canons on drones and bee on bee violence will drop
FYI: Honey bees are an invasive species everywhere but Eurasia and Africa
"Invasive" and "not native" are not interchangeable. Honeybees are not native to North America, but they are not an invasive species.
Also, most of our staple crops aren't native and we need the bees to pollinate most of them.
You don't need bees for wheat, corn, rice or potatoes, but just about any fruit require them.
Tell that to all of our native bee species that have lost habitat and resources to the highly aggressive Africanized honeybees taking over our ecosystem. They are, in fact, invasive.
But I also believe that pesticides are not the answer. There are ways of managing bee activity and the company I work for is actively engaged in developing new, pesticide-free bee and wasp control systems. I hope they will be used much more than pesticides in the future.