Domestic honey bee colonies in the United States suffered losses averaging over 60% in 2025, marking the largest winter die-off since Colony Collapse Disorder was identified in 2006. This decline highlights ongoing challenges from parasites, poor nutrition, and habitat loss. Experts from the Honey Bee Health Coalition emphasize the need for better support to sustain pollination services worth $18 billion annually.
For more than 3,000 years, humans have provided food for honey bees in return for honey and pollination services. In recent decades, these bees have become essential for pollinating crops that supply nutritious fruits, vegetables, and nuts, contributing around $18 billion yearly to produce markets.
Commercially managed honey bees migrate across the country for about six months each year, pollinating fields from California almonds to Maine blueberries. While the United States hosts roughly 4,000 species of wild bees, managed honey bees uniquely meet large-scale pollination demands. However, between pollination periods, these bees require continuous access to diverse pollen and nectar sources to build resilience against stresses like the Varroa destructor mite.
Urban expansion, intensified farming, and replacement of natural areas with non-flowering grasses have reduced floral resources. Surveys show that 2025 winter losses exceeded 60%, continuing a nearly 20-year trend of unsustainable declines driven by factors including poor nutrition, pathogens, pesticides, and environmental pressures.
Collaborative efforts by the USDA, academics, nonprofits, beekeepers, and companies—through initiatives like the Honey Bee Health Coalition and Project Apis m.—have identified these interconnected issues over two decades. A recent USDA analysis pointed to Varroa mites and associated viruses as primary culprits, with some mite populations developing resistance to common treatments, increasing costs and complexity.
Restrictions on placing hives on public lands stem from concerns that honey bees compete with wild bees, but a review of 68 studies found negative impacts in only two cases, positive effects in ten, and no significant influence in most. Bee interactions vary by context, such as land management history and climate, differing from isolated study sites like an Italian island.
Conservation of native ecosystems remains vital, yet honey bees can thrive with affordable pollinator seed mixes in human-altered landscapes. Advocates call for policies encouraging pollinator-friendly plantings on agricultural and managed public lands. As Matthew Mulica, facilitator of the Honey Bee Health Coalition, states, "Ultimately, we need all the bees" to support biodiversity and food production.