More than half of U.S. bee colonies were lost in the year leading up to April 2025 [1].
The collapse of these populations threatens agricultural stability and food security, while the potential closure of the nation's oldest bee-research laboratory could halt the search for solutions.
Beekeepers and the Apiary Inspectors of America are sounding alarms over the scale of the decline. A spokesperson for the Apiary Inspectors of America said, "The loss of more than half of our colonies in a single year is unprecedented in the history of these surveys."
This crisis comes as the government moves to shut down a federal bee laboratory. Beekeepers fear the closure will slash critical funding and eliminate the specialized expertise needed to combat the collapse. The facility is the oldest of its kind in the U.S.
In the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, about 12 beekeepers [2] gathered at a disused gas station to observe the effects of the decline in the field. The group is working to identify the specific causes of the hive losses through rigorous testing.
Roy Funkhouser, a member of the beekeeping community, said, "We've got results from a lot of our testing and figured out a lot of the things that are going wrong."
Despite these findings, the community warns that without the federal lab, the ability to scale these insights into national policy or treatment protocols will vanish. The loss of over 50 percent [1] of colonies in a 12-month period marks a significant escalation in the instability of U.S. apiaries.
“The loss of more than half of our colonies in a single year is unprecedented.”
The simultaneous collapse of pollinator populations and the dismantling of federal research infrastructure create a dangerous gap in agricultural defense. Because bees are essential for the pollination of a vast majority of U.S. crops, the loss of these colonies combined with a reduction in scientific oversight could lead to decreased crop yields and increased food prices.
