The thing that’s killing the bees, and all insects is the excessive amount of artificial EMF that continues to increase. The reason one can know that’s the culprit is because wild populations of insects have dramatically decreased. It’s detailed in Arthur Firstenberg’s book The Invisible Rainbow. He talks about the mites too and cites scientific studies that prove they aren’t the cause.
Honeybees are disappearing
- Thread starter stardust
- Start date
eightyfour
Padawan Learner
Plenty of insects here where i am in Australia (A flood plain). Lots of especially fly's and mosquitos. I was of the assumption that overuse of pesticides was the cause of the decline of insects in places like the UK. I should go look at the cotton growing region in Australia to see if there is still lots of insects Cotton is GMO and produces its own insecticide. There might be multiple causes.
dennis
Dagobah Resident
Feb 6, 2025
Severe and Sudden Losses of Managed Honey Bees Across the Nation
As commercial beekeepers in the USA inspect their bees after winter, to transport over 90% of the nation’s managed honey bees to pollinate California almonds, they are discovering alarming colony losses. These losses are severe, broad, and may impact food security through inadequate pollination services. Survey results are still accumulating, but information gathered from 234 beekeepers found average recent losses well over 50%, with a combined financial loss of over $139M. Combined with losses during other times of year, this additional loss puts many beekeepers at a loss rate of 70%-100% over the past 12 months.
The symptoms of loss are reminiscent of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) conditions which occurred in 2007 -2008 when bees suddenly disappeared from their colonies. During recent inspections by field scientists, deceased colonies often died with ample honey stores, leaving small patches of brood, with most or all the adult bees missing. Another symptom has been the rapid dwindling of surviving colonies, often within ten days of passing health inspections.
This page serves as a central hub for press releases, webinars, research updates, and key resources related to 2025 colony loss data as it becomes available. Project Apis m. is committed to providing timely, science-based information to help beekeepers, growers, and stakeholders stay informed and take action.
Severe and Sudden Losses of Managed Honey Bees Across the Nation
As commercial beekeepers in the USA inspect their bees after winter, to transport over 90% of the nation’s managed honey bees to pollinate California almonds, they are discovering alarming colony losses. These losses are severe, broad, and may impact food security through inadequate pollination services. Survey results are still accumulating, but information gathered from 234 beekeepers found average recent losses well over 50%, with a combined financial loss of over $139M. Combined with losses during other times of year, this additional loss puts many beekeepers at a loss rate of 70%-100% over the past 12 months.
The symptoms of loss are reminiscent of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) conditions which occurred in 2007 -2008 when bees suddenly disappeared from their colonies. During recent inspections by field scientists, deceased colonies often died with ample honey stores, leaving small patches of brood, with most or all the adult bees missing. Another symptom has been the rapid dwindling of surviving colonies, often within ten days of passing health inspections.
This page serves as a central hub for press releases, webinars, research updates, and key resources related to 2025 colony loss data as it becomes available. Project Apis m. is committed to providing timely, science-based information to help beekeepers, growers, and stakeholders stay informed and take action.
Colony Loss Information — Project Apis m.
www.projectapism.org
i read that china has the same problem and that pollenisation must be done by hand.Feb 6, 2025
Severe and Sudden Losses of Managed Honey Bees Across the Nation
As commercial beekeepers in the USA inspect their bees after winter, to transport over 90% of the nation’s managed honey bees to pollinate California almonds, they are discovering alarming colony losses. These losses are severe, broad, and may impact food security through inadequate pollination services. Survey results are still accumulating, but information gathered from 234 beekeepers found average recent losses well over 50%, with a combined financial loss of over $139M. Combined with losses during other times of year, this additional loss puts many beekeepers at a loss rate of 70%-100% over the past 12 months.
The symptoms of loss are reminiscent of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) conditions which occurred in 2007 -2008 when bees suddenly disappeared from their colonies. During recent inspections by field scientists, deceased colonies often died with ample honey stores, leaving small patches of brood, with most or all the adult bees missing. Another symptom has been the rapid dwindling of surviving colonies, often within ten days of passing health inspections.
This page serves as a central hub for press releases, webinars, research updates, and key resources related to 2025 colony loss data as it becomes available. Project Apis m. is committed to providing timely, science-based information to help beekeepers, growers, and stakeholders stay informed and take action.
Colony Loss Information — Project Apis m.
www.projectapism.org
US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause
Honeybee deaths have hit record highs in the US, with the unprecedented loss of colonies pushing many beekeepers close to ruin as scientists scramble to identify the main cause of the huge declines.
Commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 60% of their colonies, on average, over the winter, according to an ongoing Project Apis m. survey that covers more than two-thirds of America’s managed bees.
This enormous rate of decline is higher than record reductions seen last year and is on track to be the “biggest loss of honeybee colonies in US history”, according to Scott McArt, an associate professor of entomology at Cornell University.
McArt said that the extraordinary rate of loss became apparent during this winter’s mass movement of honeybee hives to California to pollinate the vast almond crop there.
Honeybees, although introduced to the US, have become vital to the agricultural system by pollinating half of all crops, including apples, berries, pumpkins, melons and cherries. Beekeepers are increasingly struggling to maintain the bee numbers necessary to undertake this work.
“Something real bad is going on this year,” said McArt. “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 latest honeybee losses are valued at $139m and have come as the honey price has climbed by 5% amid a drop in honey production. Many beekeepers are now struggling to absorb these shortfalls, with some going out of business altogether.
“It’s all gone,” said one beekeeper in response to the Project Apis m. survey. “The equity on the house is gone, our retirement is gone, the family member’s money is gone. All that’s left are empty boxes. We don’t even have the dead bees. They are gone too.”
A certain portion of a colony typically perishes over their more moribund winter months but this rate of loss was typically only around 10% or 20% until around two decades ago when a phenomena called colony collapse disorder, where colonies completely disappear or die, started to emerge in the US. Now, typically half of all colonies are lost on average.
Scientists have ascertained that the climate crisis, habitat loss and pesticide use have badly affected all bees, the vast majority in the US being 4,000 native, wild species rather than honeybees. For managed honeybees, a lack of nutrition, poor handling practices and rampant infestation by varroa mites, a type of parasite, and diseases have also taken their toll.
The loss of bees, both captive and wild, in the US is already starting to limit the supply of some food crops and is reducing the yield of honey. The declines are part of a broader crisis in the insect world where species are being wiped out at an alarming rate. Researchers warn that the loss of insects imperils basic functions of life on Earth, such as food production, the flowering of plants and waste disposal.
The latest, record leap in honeybee losses is now being investigated by staff at the US Department of Agriculture, which is analyzing bees, wax and pollen to determine if parasites and viruses are to blame for the deaths.
However, cuts in staff numbers by Donald Trump’s administration has required Cornell University to step in and take on further required research to determine if the samples have been affected by pesticides. It will take around a month before scientists haver a better idea as to the main drivers of the latest losses.
“There’s no one single thing affecting honeybees but we are trying to figure out what the most important stresses are right now,” said McArt. “There are a suspicions of a lot of things at the moment, you should see my inbox right now. There are theories about a new virus bring involved but we have to gather the data. We can’t rule anything out at this stage.”
The record loss of honeybees follows figures released last year showing that, conversely, there are now an all-time high number of honeybee colonies in the US – 3.8m, around 1m more than five years previously.
This is down to more people becoming interested in beekeeping, meaning that more colonies are being split and created, McArt said. “That is driving up colony numbers but it doesn’t mean they are doing well,” he said.
“The colony loss rates are increasing, if anything, even though we are putting more supply into the system. Another important point is that we have very good evidence of range declines and even extinctions among wild pollinators, which aren’t being managed by anyone.
“Comparing honeybees and wild bees is like comparing a chicken and a woodpecker. That doesn’t mean honeybees, which are a part of agriculture like chickens, aren’t beautiful. They bring a lot of joy to people and without their crop pollination we wouldn’t be doing well at all.”
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 stingwww.theguardian.com
The same thing is happening in my country.
nicoleblalonde
Padawan Learner
My urban honeybee colony died this winter. When I opened it up, there was still lots of honey left so they didn’t starve.
My mentor is seeing 50% die off in his bee yards.
My mentor is seeing 50% die off in his bee yards.
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