A new report from the California State Beekeepers Association warns that record colony losses, shrinking forage and regulatory delays are pushing the nation’s commercial beekeeping sector to a breaking point — threatening pollination for crops that anchor U.S. food production.
The white paper was authored by Elina Niño, an apiculture professor at the University of California, Davis, and released this week at the association’s annual conference. It outlines steep declines facing the industry and calls for immediate policy action. Commercial beekeepers nationwide have lost an average of 62% of their colonies, according to a February survey by Project Apis m.
CSBA President Ryan Burris said the findings underscore the need for policymakers to better understand the economic role of managed honeybees, which contribute an estimated $22 billion in pollination and honey production annually.
“Despite widespread awareness and conservation efforts, commercial beekeepers continue to lose up to half of their colonies every year,” said Burris in releasing the report. “There needs to be a stronger understanding — especially among policymakers and the public — of the value commercial honeybees bring to our food system.”
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California’s beekeepers manage roughly 600,000 colonies, but the state’s almond industry alone requires more than 2 million hives each spring. As a result, about two-thirds of all U.S. honeybee colonies are transported into California each February to pollinate the state’s 1.3 million acres of almonds. Rising colony losses and early-season demands have caused hive rental prices to climb to $190–$240 per hive, according to the white paper.
The report identifies three top policy priorities: improving bee nutrition through expanded forage, accelerating approval of new miticides to combat Varroa destructor mites, and strengthening the domestic honey market. Habitat loss and restricted access to public and private lands have sharply limited forage, forcing beekeepers to rely heavily on costly supplemental feed. Varroa mites remain the top driver of colony losses, yet few effective treatments are available, and regulatory bottlenecks in California have slowed adoption of new tools already approved by U.S. EPA.
Imported honey now makes up 74% of the U.S. market, further straining small family beekeeping operations that rely on honey sales to offset rising production costs. CSBA is urging stronger enforcement of labeling and purity standards and expanded promotion of U.S.-produced honey.
“Commercial beekeepers are in a constant state of crisis control,” said Burris. “Our goal is to highlight the highest-priority issues and promote solutions that sustain both beekeeping and agriculture.”
