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Scientists identify culprit behind biggest-ever U.S. honey bee die-off

(www.science.org)
186 points pseudolus | 3 comments | 01 Jul 25 10:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.002s | source
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AdmiralAsshat ◴[01 Jul 25 14:47 UTC] No.44434420[source]▶
> U.S. beekeepers had a disastrous winter. Between June 2024 and January 2025, a full 62% of commercial honey bee colonies in the United States died, according to an extensive survey. It was the largest die-off on record, coming on the heels of a 55% die-off the previous winter.

Christ, do we even have any bees left at this point?

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humblebeekeeper ◴[01 Jul 25 15:03 UTC] No.44434606[source]▶
In the US, honeybees aren't native, and the bees we really need to protect are the native bees.

That said, most beekeepers expect to lose 30-50% of their hives every year. But most honeybee hives can be split into two hives every year. So if you can double (or even potentially triple, quadruple) each hive every year, a loss of 50% isn't catastrophic.

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1. mistrial9 ◴[01 Jul 25 15:07 UTC] No.44434656[source]▶
you mean after the modern practice of truck shipping hives was commercially accepted, then "most beekeepers" expect that ??
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2. humblebeekeeper ◴[01 Jul 25 15:22 UTC] No.44434805[source]▶
Prior to the langstroth hive, European beekeepers destroyed the hive entirely to harvest the honey. Mites and disease were less prevalent and insects were FAR less stressed by the environment.

The Langstroth hive was invented in the 1850s, and the first migratory commercial hives started in the US 50 years later.

In the 1940s we saw a steady decline in hives, but the hives really started seeing massive die offs in the 2000s.

So no, the timelines are not really due to shipping commercial hives. There's other, stronger factors at play.

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3. ◴[01 Jul 25 15:55 UTC] No.44435191[source]▶