Dive Brief:
- Fears of a bee-pocalypse have run rampant since 2006, when beekeepers began noticing higher-than-normal colony die-offs, which became known as "colony collapse disorder" (CCD). However, according to USDA honey production surveys, honey bee colonies are at their highest level in two decades, with numbers rising from 2.4 million in 2006 to 2.7 million in 2014.
- Before these numbers were released, concerns mounted regarding the 30% colony loss beekeepers struggled with each year. Even the White House stepped in with the first National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.
- Beekeepers have found ways to combat colony collapse disorder to help bee colonies rise to their current level. One involves splitting a healthy hive into two or buying new bees to replace lost ones. Beekeepers have learned to do this because some colony die-off has always been normal, on average about 14% per year.
Dive Insight:
According to The Washington Post, "When CCD came along, it roughly doubled the usual annual rate of bee die-offs. But this doesn't mean that bees are going extinct, just that beekeepers need to work a little harder to keep production up."
Some food manufacturers and retailers have regularly stepped in; providing more than $100,000 just last year to the Xerces Society, a nonprofit organization that protects pollinators and their habitat. Those companies included Whole Foods Market, General Mills, Inc. and its 2014 acquisition Annie's Homegrown, and Talenti, now owned by Unilever. Whole Foods has also put on special bee-focused events, such as "Human Bee-In" events and "Give Bees A Chance" promotions, to raise awareness.
Some environmentalists believe pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, may be causing many of the bee deaths. The Environmental Protection Agency has requested studies to show what, if any, effects these pesticides might have on bees.