Texas has lost 61 percent of its honeybee colony population over the early spring and summer, a decline that reflects a similar trend across the U.S. This may have a national impact on food supplies.
In January, reports from U.S. beekeepers of high honeybee colony losses began to surface. The data collected showed not only the highest loss of bee colonies on record, but also, unlike most years, the high loss mostly affected commercial operations.
With losses stacking into the summer, data from Apiary Inspectors of America shows that more than 55 percent of U.S. bee colonies disappeared, equating to a national loss of 1.7 million colonies out of about 2.7 million colonies in America.
In economic terms, that meant an estimated loss of $600 million.
Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that Texas is home to nearly 271,000 of these colonies, ranking third in the nation.
The 2023 census released by the USDA, the most recent census taken, showed that bees produced nearly $514 million worth of honey nationally and added nearly $20 billion to national crop production through their work as pollinators.
Many crops in the U.S. are heavily or completely dependent on honeybees for pollination.
In Texas, honeybees pollinate nearly $587 million worth of crops, from cotton in the Panhandle to food crops in the Rio Grande Valley, requiring Texas’ 85,000 commercial hives and an additional 120,000 out-of-state hives to meet the state’s pollination needs.
After the reports of the high colony losses, researchers from the USDA discovered acute bee paralysis and high levels of deformed wing virus A and B. Both viruses, which cause paralysis or wing/abdominal deformities, can lead to death in the affected colonies.
These viruses are most commonly spread by the Varroa mite, an invasive species from Asia, that has caused more damage and economic loss than all other diseases that afflict bee colonies.
Researchers at the USDA also discovered that the Varroa mite found in affected colonies had developed a genetic resistance to amitraz, the miticide used to treat hives for Varroa mites.
