Beekeepers in New England are reeling from the record-breaking losses of a particularly difficult season.
What's happening?
Connecticut Insider reported that some honey bee hives have suffered losses as high as 90% in the state, and this is part of a concerning long-term decline unfolding nationwide.
Mass die-offs are fairly common, and the honeybee population fluctuates quite substantially from season to season, but the current rates are simply unsustainable.
The causes of the decline are threefold: pesticides, parasites, and habitat loss.
Neonicotinoids are a highly effective insecticide, but they are also harmful to pollinators. They cause the afflicted bees to lose their memories and sense of direction, so they can't return to the hives. Additionally, parasites like Varroa mites are becoming more common, and bees are suffering from habitat loss from land being cleared for development.
The combined effects of these issues are making life difficult for beekeepers in the state, most of whom are small-scale hobbyists.
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Rollie Hannan Jr., a beekeeper with decades of experience, told the outlet, "You get one stressor in there, and then something else happens and then it's harder to keep them alive."
Why are pollinators so important?
About 80% of all flowering plants rely on pollinators like bees and butterflies to spread and reproduce.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the annual value of the work done by pollinators amounts to about $200 billion. Honey bees alone aid the cultivation of 130 fruits and vegetables, or about a third of everything we eat.
If bees were to decline further or even disappear entirely, the effects on the nation's food supply would be catastrophic. It would lead to much lower crop yields, if not outright failures, and steep rises in food prices.
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It should be a main subject 💯 What's being done about the bee collapse?
The best ways to aid pollinators actually begin in your backyard, quite literally. Rewilding a yard with native plants is just what they require to thrive, and certain species are very particular in the plants they need to reproduce. For example, the monarch butterfly needs a throne fit for a queen, and that's the milkweed.
It's also important to support local initiatives to aid pollinators. Municipalities across Connecticut have advanced pro-bee measures like encouraging pollinator-friendly planting. At the state level, a partial ban on neonicotinoids will go into effect in 2027.
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