Beekeepers Work to Stabilize Honeybee Population Amid High Death Rates
Beekeepers in the US lost nearly half of their managed honeybee colonies in the year ending April 1, according to an annual survey by the University of Maryland and Auburn University. The 48% loss rate was the second highest on record, but the number of colonies remained relatively stable due to beekeepers using costly and time-consuming measures to create new colonies. Honeybees are crucial to the food supply, pollinating more than 100 crops, but parasites, pesticides, starvation and climate change are causing large die-offs.