Environment Commercial bee colony collapse threatens Washington apple, berry agriculture
Hundreds of flatbed loads of honey bees are trucked into Washington every spring, enabling the production of apples, cherries, pears and berries in the state.
The pollinators are estimated to add at least $18 billion in value to crops throughout the U.S., yet the past year has been catastrophic.
“We are in the middle of a colony collapse disorder like we haven’t seen since the early 1990s,” said local beekeeper Dawn Beck, who has a master beekeeper certificate from the University of Montana and one from Cornell University.
About 1.7 million honey bee colonies — nearly 60% of all such hives in the country — were lost between June 2024 and March 2025, according to survey data from the nonprofit “Project Apis m.” (Apis mellifera is the scientific name for honey bee.) With about 50,000 bees per colony in peak season, that is close to 80 billion bees.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/06/15/commercial-bee-colony-collapse-threatens-washington-apple-berry-agriculture/
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