U.S. Beehives Recovering from Challenge of Colony Collapse

KANSAS CITY, MO – There’s a buzz within the domestic beekeeping industry, reflecting good news regarding the rebuilding of colonies.

Just over ten years ago, U.S. beekeepers were experiencing something known as colony collapse disorder, which when combined with other losses left the industry with 2.3 bee colonies, the lowest on record.

As beekeepers adapted to the challenges, the number of colonies began to slowly recover and today – according to the Economic Research Service (ERS) – there are more than 2.7 million colonies and an 8 percent increase in ten years.

Not everything is rosy in this story, because even though colony numbers have improved, per colony honey yields have declined about half a pound (from 69 pounds per year to 57 pounds per year).

Recently, researchers with ERS reported that beekeepers now receive about as much of their income from providing pollination services as from producing honey.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)