The Disappearing Bees: Why Their Decline Matters and How We Can Help

As the founder of a company built on real honey and sustainable jars, I’ve always had a deep affinity for bees. I remember summer days as a child when the garden hummed with their buzz – a sound so ordinary then, yet so precious now. In recent years, that familiar buzz has grown fainter. Across New Zealand, the USA, and Europe, bees are in trouble. Headlines warn of “bee apocalypse” and scientific reports back up what we’re seeing in our own backyards: bee populations are plummeting in many places . It’s a crisis that feels personal to me, not just because my business relies on these pollinators, but because I believe our planet’s future is intimately tied to the fate of these tiny, extraordinary creatures.

In this blog post, I want to share both the heart and the hard facts about the decline of bees. We’ll look at what’s happening to bees – both wild species and honey bees – in New Zealand, America, and Europe. We’ll explore why it’s happening, including evidence-based factors like pesticide use, habitat loss, and climate change. I’ll also offer a peek into what beekeepers are experiencing on the front lines. Most importantly, I hope to convey why all of this matters for everyone – and how each of us can be part of the solution.

Bee Populations Plummeting: A Global Crisis with Local Impacts

Bees in Decline Worldwide: The plight of the bees is part of a larger trend of insect decline. Habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change are hammering insect populations worldwide. In fact, a 2019 global review estimated 40% of all insect species are in decline, with one-third endangered . Bees, being some of the most important insects to ecosystems and agriculture, are among the hardest hit. In industrialized nations across the globe, bee populations have been steadily falling .

New Zealand – More Hives, But Hidden Losses: Here in New Zealand, we have a unique situation. On paper, our honey bee numbers have actually doubled over the last 10 years thanks to a manuka honey boom . We now have more managed hives than ever . But this doesn’t mean our bees are safe – far from it. The increase in hives masks the struggles underneath. The invasive Varroa mite, which arrived in NZ in the early 2000s, wiped out all wild feral honey bee colonies and made it impossible for honey bees to survive without human help . Today, beekeepers must constantly battle this parasite just to keep their bees alive. Recent surveys show New Zealand beekeepers lose around 12–17% of their colonies each winter on average . In the winter of 2021, for example, over 109,000 NZ hives (13.6%) died despite beekeepers’ best efforts . So while hive counts are up, the bees inside are struggling; only intensive management has prevented an outright collapse.

United States – Alarming Losses Despite Intensive Care: In the U.S., the story is similarly troubling. Honey bee colonies have been on a long decline since the 1960s . Every year, especially over the past decade, American beekeepers have reported shockingly high losses. In some recent years, beekeepers have lost around 40–45% of their hives to a combination of stressors . Last winter was particularly brutal – a survey found that from late 2024 to early 2025, over 1.1 million honey bee colonies died off, roughly 41% of all U.S. colonies in a single season . Some large commercial beekeepers saw over 60% of their bees wiped out during that winter alone . These losses are far beyond normal and have been described as “catastrophic.”

What’s chilling is that U.S. beekeepers have managed to keep total hive numbers fairly steady only by extraordinary intervention – splitting hives, breeding new queens, and replacing dead colonies every year . It’s like bailing water out of a leaking boat. Between 2015 and 2022, 11.4 million colonies were lost and 11.1 million added as replacements . This huge turnover shows how unstable the situation is. And while the managed honey bee population gets all the attention, wild native bees in the U.S. are faring even worse, often slipping under the radar . We have far less data on wild bees, but many local populations are steadily declining as well . In fact, farmers now truck in billions of honey bees each year (for example, to pollinate California’s almond orchards) partly because native pollinators in those areas have dwindled and can no longer do the job alone .

Europe – Silent Spring for Wild Bees: Europe has a long history of caring about bees, yet wild bees there are in crisis too. Conservation studies reveal that nearly one in ten wild bee species in Europe is facing extinction, and over half of European bee species are in decline or data-deficient in their status . The beloved bumblebees exemplify this problem. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that 24% of Europe’s bumblebee species are now threatened with extinction . Almost half of all bumblebee species in Europe show population declines driven by shrinking habitats and vanishing wildflowers . To put it plainly, dozens of bee species that used to be common across European countrysides are now rare – and some have already disappeared from parts of their range. For instance, in the UK alone, 17 bee species have gone regionally extinct in recent decades . Honey bees in Europe (which are mostly kept by beekeepers) have also faced challenges from parasites and pesticides. While the total number of managed hives in Europe has somewhat recovered from declines in the 1990s (rising to ~25.4 million colonies today) , that recovery is largely due to human effort. Wild pollinators have no such safety net.

Wild Bees vs. Honey Bees – Different Stories, Same Trend: It’s important to understand that “bee decline” isn’t just about honey bees (the species Apis mellifera kept in hives). The world has over 20,000 species of wild bees – from bumblebees to solitary leafcutter and mining bees – that live in forests, fields, and city parks. These wild bees are crucial pollinators in their own right, often specializing in certain wild plants or crops. Unlike honey bees, which humans can breed and multiply, wild bee populations can’t be easily rebuilt once they crash. Sadly, studies show many wild bees are indeed crashing. For example, at least 45% of Europe’s bumblebee species have declining populations today . In North America, several formerly common bumblebee species (like the rusty-patched bumblebee and Franklin’s bumblebee) have virtually vanished – four U.S. bumblebee species are in serious decline and one is believed extinct . And a survey of native bees in eastern North America found 49 wild bee species in significant decline too . These are alarming numbers for creatures so integral to ecosystems. Wild bees often don’t get the headlines that honey bees do, but their loss is equally, if not more, concerning.

The bottom line is that across continents – from New Zealand’s orchards to America’s prairies to Europe’s meadows – bees are under threat. Some managed honey bee populations are being propped up by beekeepers, but only through great effort. Meanwhile, many wild bees are quietly disappearing without fanfare. It’s an environmental crisis unfolding at our feet. To safeguard the future of bees, we need to understand why this is happening.

Why Are Bees Disappearing? Key Factors Behind the Decline

Researchers studying the bee decline describe it as a “death by a thousand cuts.” There is no single villain; rather, multiple stressors are working together to weaken and kill bees. Here are some of the biggest contributors identified by science:

• Pesticides and Poisonings: Modern agriculture’s heavy use of pesticides – especially a class called neonicotinoids – has proven extremely harmful to bees. These chemicals are neurotoxins designed to kill crop pests, but they don’t distinguish between a locust and a bee. Bees can be exposed by foraging on treated crops or wildflowers growing in treated soil. Even at sublethal doses, certain pesticides can impair bees’ navigation, reproduction, and immunity. A long-term study in the UK found that wild bee populations fell more sharply in areas with heavy neonicotinoid use . Laboratory research likewise shows neonics can reduce bumblebee queen production and colony growth. The problem became so evident that in 2018 the European Union banned three major neonicotinoids for all outdoor farming to protect bees . (These pesticides were detected contaminating wild plants and even honey samples worldwide .) Beyond neonics, bees face risks from other insecticides, fungicides (which can weaken bees’ gut health), and herbicides (which kill flowering weeds that bees rely on). Many beekeepers, especially in the US, report acute pesticide kill-offs where entire apiaries die after nearby fields are sprayed. In sum, pesticide exposure is a key piece of the bee decline puzzle – a poison that bees encounter in both farmlands and home gardens .
• Habitat Loss and Food Shortages: One of the most obvious yet insidious threats to bees is the loss of flowering habitat. As human development expands, there are simply fewer places for bees to live and feed. Wild bees need diverse meadows, forests, hedgerows, or roadside wildflower strips to thrive. Honey bees, too, need abundant nectar and pollen sources to make honey and raise brood. But across much of the world, wildflower-rich land is disappearing. Intensive monoculture agriculture (planting vast areas of a single crop) creates “food deserts” for bees – imagine miles of corn or wheat that provide no nectar. Urban sprawl, paving of green spaces, and the mowing of road verges and lawns also eliminate the weedy flowers that used to sustain pollinators. In Europe, habitat fragmentation and the loss of wild plants are cited as the most important drivers of bee declines . At least 45% of Europe’s bumblebees are in decline due to lack of foraging plants and fragmented landscapes . In North America and New Zealand, the conversion of prairies, forests, and wetlands into farmland or subdivisions has likewise robbed bees of forage and nesting sites. Less food means smaller, weaker bee populations more prone to collapse. Think of habitat loss as a slow starvation of the bees – one that we can help reverse by restoring flowers to the landscape.
• Climate Change and Weather Extremes: The climate crisis is hitting bees hard. Pollinators evolved in tune with local climate patterns, and rapid shifts are throwing that rhythm off. Warmer winters can disrupt honey bees’ hibernation cycles, leading colonies to eat through their food stores too fast. Earlier springs cause flowers to bloom before bees emerge, so bees miss the feast. Heat waves and droughts dry up the nectar flow that bees depend on in summer, while more frequent storms and floods can destroy nests and food sources. A WWF study in England noted that while habitat loss is the biggest factor, climate change is “having an increasing role” in bee declines . We’re seeing this globally: in parts of the U.S., unseasonable cold snaps followed by drought have knocked back bee populations. In New Zealand, changing weather patterns can alter honey flows and breed cycles. Climate change also spreads pests and diseases to new areas (for example, mild winters help parasites like Varroa mites and small hive beetles survive more easily). Essentially, a destabilized climate makes life much tougher for bees, adding yet another stress on top of all the others.
• Disease and Parasites: Even if we solved pesticides, habitat, and climate issues overnight, bees would still be battling some fierce biological enemies. Chief among them is the Varroa destructor mite – a tiny vampire that lives on honey bees, weakening them and transmitting deadly viruses. Varroa mites originated in Asia but have now invaded almost every country (New Zealand in 2000, Europe earlier, North America in the 1980s), and they are considered the number one killer of honey bees worldwide . Beekeepers must constantly treat hives to keep Varroa in check, and when treatments fail, colonies often collapse from mite infestations. Varroa has essentially wiped out wild honey bee colonies in places like NZ and the U.S., meaning managed hives only survive now thanks to human intervention . Besides Varroa, bees face viruses (like deformed wing virus), bacterial diseases, fungi, and other parasites. Wild bees have their own specific diseases too and can catch some from contact with managed bees. Low genetic diversity in some bee populations (a problem in commercial breeding) also makes them less resilient to illness . When bees are already stressed by pesticides, poor nutrition, or climate, they are even more susceptible to diseases – a vicious cycle.

It’s the combination of all these factors – a cocktail of poisons, hunger, climate stress, and sickness – that is driving bee declines. Scientists sometimes refer to this as a “multiple stressor” problem. For example, a bee exposed to pesticides might have a weakened immune system, making it more likely to succumb to a virus; a landscape with few flowers means bees don’t get the diverse diet needed to detoxify pesticides; climate extremes can push a borderline colony over the edge. This helps explain phenomena like Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that struck beekeepers in the mid-2000s, where hives mysteriously died off en masse. CCD is now thought to result from a mix of Varroa mites, viruses, and pesticide exposure that together cause worker bees to abandon their hive . In short, bees are facing a perfect storm of stressors, much of it human-induced.

The View from the Beekeepers: Insights from the Field

 

What do those working closest with bees – the beekeepers and farmers – have to say about this crisis? As someone deeply involved in the honey business, I’ve had many conversations with people on the front lines. Their experiences paint a sobering picture, but also one of determination.

I recently spoke with a commercial beekeeper friend here in New Zealand who manages 10,000 hives (producing roughly 4,000 tons of honey a year). You might think an operation of that scale, with all its resources, would be immune to bee problems. Yet even he is deeply worried. He’s seen the signs of stress in his bees: higher winter losses each year, hives struggling to find enough nectar during summer dearths, and the ever-present battle with Varroa mites. He mentioned how expensive and labor-intensive it has become to keep those 10,000 hives alive – constant mite treatments, supplemental feeding with sugar syrup when flowers are scarce, and replacing queens more frequently to boost colony health. The fact that a producer of his size is feeling the strain shows how pervasive the issue is. No one is immune to an unhealthy environment for bees.🐝 

Beekeepers worldwide echo similar concerns. In the United States, migratory beekeepers truck their hives thousands of miles every year, chasing blooms to keep their bees fed. Come February, upwards of 70% of all commercial U.S. honey bees are sent to California to pollinate the almond crop – the scale of that pollination event is staggering and reflects how reliant our food system has become on a few beekeepers’ ability to prop up bee populations. Those beekeepers have described recent years as “running on a treadmill”: any gains made by splitting hives or adding new colonies are offset by record losses over winter. The cost of replacing deadouts (dead hives) each spring, the cost of medications and mite treatments, and the mental toll of uncertainty are all mounting. One U.S. beekeeper lamented in a report that despite doing everything “right,” he still lost half his operation over winter – a story I’ve unfortunately heard more than once.

In Europe, many small-scale beekeepers (and there are hundreds of thousands of them) have taken to advocacy. They were instrumental in pushing the EU to ban neonicotinoid pesticides, organizing petitions and sharing how their hives suffered near treated fields. French and Belgian beekeepers in the 2000s were among the first to raise red flags as their bees showed disoriented behavior and die-offs linked to these chemicals. Their on-the-ground observations helped scientists and regulators pinpoint pesticides as a culprit. Beekeepers are also engaging in breeding programs to develop more mite-resistant or hardy bee strains, giving hope that bees might adapt to some of these challenges.

Another insight from the field is how nature’s balance is off-kilter: farmers and beekeepers report that wild pollinators are fewer than before. Almond growers in California, for example, largely rely on imported honey bees because the native bees that used to frequent the orchards are now scarce . In parts of China, pollinator loss has become so severe that farmers have resorted to hand-pollinating fruit trees with paintbrushes – a laborious, impractical substitute for bees . These anecdotes, while extreme, illustrate what a world without healthy pollinator communities could look like.

Yet, amid the worries, there’s a strong resolve in the beekeeping community to save the bees. I see more knowledge-sharing than ever – beekeepers swapping tips on planting wildflower strips around apiaries or creating “bee sanctuaries” free of chemicals. Urban beekeeping has boomed, which, while not a panacea, has engaged city-dwellers in caring for pollinators and educated the public.

Importantly, many beekeepers emphasize that bees can recover if given a chance. Unlike larger endangered animals, insects can rebound quickly when conditions improve (a single queen can hatch a whole new colony). We’ve witnessed local bee populations bounce back when wildflower habitat is restored or when a harmful pesticide is removed from use. This gives hope that if we act to remove the pressures, bees will do their part and thrive again.

Why Bee Decline Matters: From Our Plates to Our Planet

Why should the average person care about the fate of bees? The short answer: because bees are keeping our world running, in ways big and small. The decline of bees isn’t just a niche environmental issue – it’s a threat to our food supply, our economies, and the health of entire ecosystems.

Food Security – Bees Feed the World: If you enjoy fruits, vegetables, or nuts, you have pollinators to thank. Bees (along with butterflies, bats, and other pollinators) are responsible for the reproduction of a huge proportion of the plants that produce our food. By the numbers, about 75% of the world’s leading food crops depend on animal pollinators like bees . Nearly one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because a pollinator helped a plant to produce it . Think of foods like apples, almonds, blueberries, coffee, chocolate, cherries, cucumbers, kiwis – the list goes on and on. Without bees, our diets would be radically different, far less nutritious, and frankly less enjoyable. Staples like wheat, corn, and rice are wind-pollinated, so humanity wouldn’t starve outright from bee loss, but many vitamins and micronutrients (and flavors!) we get from produce would diminish. In dollar terms, pollination by bees is immense: in the United States alone, honey bee pollination adds about $15 billion in value to agriculture each year . If you include wild pollinators and all the ecological services they provide, pollinators contribute an estimated $200 billion+ to the global economy annually . The decline of bees, therefore, directly threatens farmers’ yields and could drive up food prices. Some crops might become scarcer or even unavailable. For example, without enough pollinators, a field of almond trees or avocado plants might produce only a small fraction of its potential yield. On a global scale, pollinator loss could exacerbate food insecurity in vulnerable regions. This is why scientists say that continued bee declines pose a serious risk to our food systems – and why farmers and corporations alike are starting to get very worried.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health: Bees don’t just pollinate crops; they pollinate nature. Almost 90% of wild flowering plant species rely on animal pollination . When bees and other pollinators decline, those wild plants also decline, leading to cascading effects up the food chain. Imagine a meadow in the European countryside – clover, foxglove, wild thyme, sunflowers. If pollinators vanish, many of those wildflowers would set fewer seeds and could eventually disappear. In turn, the creatures that depend on those plants (caterpillars, birds that eat the seeds, etc.) would suffer. A world with fewer bees is a world with fewer wildflowers, which means less food and habitat for countless other organisms. In essence, bees are cornerstones of ecosystems – remove them and the whole structure can start to crumble. A noted entomologist once said that losing insects is like removing rivets from an airplane in flight: lose too many and the plane (our ecosystem) falls apart. We already see signs of this unraveling. In places where certain bumblebees have gone extinct, specific flowers they serviced are setting less seed. The loss of pollinators can even impact soil health and water, since plants affect erosion and water cycles. In short, bee declines are not just about bees – they are symptomatic of a broader environmental malaise that could ultimately affect the stability of life on Earth as we know it.

Bees as Environmental Indicators: There’s another reason to care: bees are like the canary in the coal mine for environmental health. Because bees are sensitive to changes in land use and chemicals, their decline is sending us a message. It’s telling us that our current way of managing the planet – our intensive agriculture, our pesticide dependence, our habitat destruction – is unsustainable. If we listen to the bees, we might also save ourselves. The issues that harm bees (pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss) are issues that, unchecked, will harm human societies too. Conversely, making the world safer for bees – cleaner air, fewer toxins, more green spaces – makes it better for everyone. This is a big part of why I’ve made pollinator protection a core mission of my business. It’s not only about saving bees; it’s about moving towards a more sustainable, liveable world.

Finally, let’s not forget the intrinsic value of bees. There is something profoundly moving about these little creatures – how a single honey bee colony can pollinate an entire orchard, or how a tiny solitary bee can survive on a blade of grass and a few blooms. Bees add color and vibrancy to our world. The arrival of bees in spring, buzzing among blossoms, is a sign of life’s renewal. A silent spring without bees would be a poorer world for the soul. As a founder guided by both facts and love for nature, I feel we owe bees a debt of gratitude. The least we can do is ensure our actions don’t drive them to oblivion.

From Crisis to Action: How We Can Help Save the Bees

Reading about all these challenges can be overwhelming – I’ll admit there are days it overwhelms me. But I hold onto hope, because there are solutions and every one of us can be part of them. The bee crisis is urgent, but it’s also motivating governments, scientists, businesses, and everyday people to act. We are not helpless. By making changes in how we live, farm, and consume, we can start to reverse the trend and give bees a fighting chance.

Here at my company, our entire mission is built around helping pollinators. We chose to use 100% real honey as a sweetener in our products (and not cheap syrups or artificial substitutes) in part to support beekeepers and the important work their bees do. Every jar of honey we source encourages a beekeeper to keep their hives thriving, which in turn means more bees out there pollinating flowers. We also insist on sustainable, plastic-free jars and packaging. This isn’t just an anti-plastic stance for its own sake – it’s because plastic pollution and petroleum-based production harm the environment that bees depend on. By eliminating single-use plastic, we reduce waste and carbon emissions, contributing to healthier ecosystems. (Microplastic particles have even been found in honey and inside bees’ bodies , which is a scary thought – another reason we need to cut down on plastic at the source.) Using glass or other eco-friendly packaging is one small way we try to make the world a bit safer for pollinators. I like to think that our jars, once empty, can be reused by customers to perhaps hold wildflower seeds, or become homes for kitchen herbs that feed the bees – a nice little circle of life.

On a personal level, my journey to help bees started with simple actions that anyone can do. I planted lavender, sunflowers, and native wildflowers in my garden and avoided using any pesticides. Within a season, I noticed more bees and butterflies coming by – proof that if you plant it, they will come. I’ve also connected with local beekeeping groups and environmental nonprofits working on pollinator-friendly initiatives. Through these experiences, I’ve learned a lot about how ordinary folks can make an extraordinary difference for bees. Here are a few actionable ideas and inspirations:

   •   Plant for Pollinators: Whether you have a big backyard or a tiny balcony, you can grow bee-friendly plants. Native wildflowers are best because local bees love them. Even a window box with herbs like rosemary, thyme, or basil can provide food for urban bees. Imagine if every household planted just a small patch of flowers – we’d create millions of micro bee sanctuaries in our cities and suburbs. Diversity is key: try to have something blooming each season, so bees have a continuous food supply.

   •   Skip the Chemicals: Pesticides and herbicides are often unnecessary in home gardens and lawns. Embrace a bit of wildness – let that clover or dandelion be, since bees adore them. If pests are an issue, use natural remedies or integrated pest management instead of reaching for the spray. Also, ask local authorities to reduce spraying in public spaces. Many communities have begun to ban cosmetic pesticide use and are seeing pollinators return.

   •   Support Sustainable Agriculture: As consumers, our choices ripple outward. Supporting organic or regenerative farmers (who use fewer chemicals and promote biodiversity) creates a market for bee-friendly farming. When you buy organic produce or local honey from a beekeeper who cares for their bees, you’re effectively voting for practices that help pollinators. Encourage your grocery stores to stock pesticide-free options. Even big food companies are starting to invest in pollinator programs under consumer pressure.

   •   Backyard Beekeeping (If You Can): Some people may even choose to become beekeepers, providing new homes for honey bees. This isn’t for everyone – it requires time, education, and care – but it can be incredibly rewarding. If it’s not feasible to keep a hive, supporting community beekeeping projects or “adopting” a hive through donations is another route. There are also efforts to support native bees by installing bee hotels (for solitary bees to nest in) and leaving some areas of your yard untouched (bare ground, pithy plant stems, and wood piles can all be nesting habitat for wild bees).

   •   Raise Your Voice: Bees may be small, but their importance is huge – and so should be our advocacy for them. Speak up for policies that protect pollinators. This could mean pushing for tighter regulations on harmful pesticides, or for governments to plant wildflowers along highways, or to fund more research on bee diseases. The EU’s neonicotinoid ban showed that public pressure, informed by science, can lead to bold action . In the U.S., there are programs like the Pollinator Partnership and movements to legalize urban beekeeping. In New Zealand, community groups are working to create “spray-free” towns. Every letter to a representative, every petition signed, every town hall question about pollinators adds up. We can be the voice for the bees at tables where they have none.

   •   Education and Inspiration: Lastly, simply share the wonder of bees with others. One of the reasons I write posts like this is to spread awareness. Take your child or a friend to a local botanical garden and watch the bees together. Once people see a fuzzy bumblebee packed with pollen or a honey bee doing her waggle dance, it’s hard not to fall in love. And what we love, we protect. By swapping fear (so many still instinctively flinch at bees) for appreciation, we cultivate a culture that values and safeguards these insects.

Bringing bees back from the brink will require effort on many levels – individual action, changes in industry practices, and strong policy. The encouraging news is that this is already starting. Momentum is building. As a founder, I’ve been heartened to find fellow entrepreneurs who prioritize sustainable, pollinator-friendly practices. Consumers are waking up to the story behind their honey and produce. Governments are acknowledging that protecting pollinators is as critical as building roads or keeping the power on – because it is infrastructure, just of a living kind.

In the end, saving bees is about relearning how to live in harmony with nature. It’s about reciprocity: bees give us so much (from food to beauty to ecological stability), and we must give back by providing them a safe haven. It’s a responsibility, but also a joy – living in a way that ensures flowers will always bloom and bees will always buzz for generations to come.

I often think of a simple guiding principle: “Is what I’m doing good for the bees?” If the answer is yes, it’s probably good for the planet and for all of us as well. Imagine if more of us asked that question. We might see lawns transformed into wildflower oases, pollution replaced by regeneration, and a world where every spring the air is alive with the sound of bees at work – a sound of hope and abundance.

Inspiring Action: I invite you to join me in this mission. Let the decline of bees stir something in you – not only sadness, but a resolve to be part of the change. Plant that seed, support that beekeeper, choose the product with the sustainable packaging, write that letter. Each action is a flower adding to a meadow of global effort. Together, our collective actions can blossom into a powerful movement that rescues our pollinators.

The bees are speaking to us through their struggle. It’s time we listen, and answer with meaningful action. By protecting bees, we safeguard the web of life that supports us all – and in doing so, we preserve the sweetness of this world, from the food on our tables to the wildflowers in the fields.

Let’s keep the buzz alive. 🌼🐝

Sources:

1. Earth.Org – North America & Europe Bee Declines (habitat loss, pesticides, climate change)  

2. NZ Herald – Honey bee numbers in NZ (hive doubling, Varroa impact)  

3. NZ Colony Loss Survey 2021 – Winter colony loss ~13.6% (109,800 hives) ; Varroa losses rising 

4. USAFacts – Honey bee pollination value ($15B US, $200B global); factors in US decline  

5. USRTK/Project Apis m. – 2024-25 survey: 41% of US colonies lost (1.1 million hives) ; 62% loss for commercial beekeepers 

6. Museum of the Earth – Wild bee declines (45% of Europe’s bumblebees; 4 NA bumblebees; 49 wild species) 

7. WWF/ Buglife (UK) – 24% of Europe’s bumblebees threatened ; 1 in 3 mouthfuls of food from pollinators ; 90% of wild plants depend on pollinators 

8. Guardian (EU) – EU bans neonics to protect bees (2018)  ; Bees pollinate 75% of crops 

9. NPR (Oliver Milman) – 40% of insect species in global decline ; role of insects in ecosystems