A new survey says America's honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record, with beekeepers losing nearly half of their managed colonies. But using costly measures to create new colonies, beekeepers are somehow keeping afloat. Thursday’s University of Maryland and Auburn University survey says that even though 48% of colonies were lost in the year that ended April 1, the number of United States honeybee colonies remained relatively stable. Honeybees are crucial to the food supply, pollinating more than 100 of the crops we eat, including nuts, vegetables and fruits. Scientists blame parasites, pesticides, starvation and climate change for large die-offs.
  • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Honey bees have no business being in the USA in the first place. They are an invasive species. They cannot pollinate our local plants, and they displace our native pollinators. They are harmful to our ecology in North America. The only reason they are here is to be exploited as agricultural animals, but you’ve been manipulated into fearing that your entire food system is predicated on an insect that in reality produces nothing but sugar syrup.

  • tymon@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Honeybees moved into my backyard recently. I guess they somehow attract a lot of different wildlife in some mysterious way, because we now have cardinals, blue jays, possums, chipmunks, and marble lizards living back there too.

    For context, I live in Ridgewood Queens, so this feels absolutely insane. Loving every second of it but god damn

  • Square Singer@feddit.deEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    And then consider the part of the US non-honeybees that died without any beekeepers to stabilize their population.

  • RangerRick@beehaw.orgEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I used to have several hives in Texas until moving out East. The heat and droughts were brutal for them. We were constantly trying to split healthy hives to increase success for our queens.

    This coming spring I’ll try to add two hives to our backyard as the city allows for up to 3 hives per residence. I’m hoping the more temperate climate and docile queens will help our area.