Scientists warn of severe honeybee losses in 2025

Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025, entomologists at Washington State University said Tuesday.

Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025, entomologists at Washington State University said Tuesday.

The university said in a news release that in the past decade, honeybee colony losses have averaged 40% to 50% annually. But this year, a combination of nutrition deficiencies, mite infestations, viral diseases and possible pesticide exposure during the previous pollinating season led to higher losses, the release said.

"Losses have been increasing steadily," Priya Chakrabarti Basu, an assistant professor of pollinator health and apiculture at WSU, said in the news release. "Pollination demands haven’t gone down, so beekeepers face tremendous pressure to keep the same number of colonies to meet those needs."

The implications could be huge.

About 35% of the world’s food depends on pollinators, according to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.