Having started bee keeping myself, I think there is a lot at play here...
1. Mites - resistant to poisons that kill mites, but not bees are spreading. This can kill hives.
2. Temperatures - are changing, where I am at 33% colony loss is relatively common due to winters (and the bees not having enough honey to survive or it gets too cold). This has been the case forever though, at least in my region
3. Africanization - of honeybees has reduced their ability to withstand the cold.
4. Travel - Many of the commercial hives in the US travel vast distances to pollenate fields. The California almonds are a huge example. This very much stresses the hive.
5. Poisons - we know if you’re near a field doing crop dusting it can kill the hive. Combine with point #4 and this creates issues today.
One thing to mention, is that setting up a new hive is relatively easy. You take a new (or about to be) queen, some workers and separate them. They’ll form a new hive. This can be done once a year (or more) on a healthy hive in the spring. Meaning... we can double the bee population yearly. They recover very well, if we know what to do to minimize hives death.
1. Mites - resistant to poisons that kill mites, but not bees are spreading. This can kill hives.
2. Temperatures - are changing, where I am at 33% colony loss is relatively common due to winters (and the bees not having enough honey to survive or it gets too cold). This has been the case forever though, at least in my region
3. Africanization - of honeybees has reduced their ability to withstand the cold.
4. Travel - Many of the commercial hives in the US travel vast distances to pollenate fields. The California almonds are a huge example. This very much stresses the hive.
5. Poisons - we know if you’re near a field doing crop dusting it can kill the hive. Combine with point #4 and this creates issues today.
One thing to mention, is that setting up a new hive is relatively easy. You take a new (or about to be) queen, some workers and separate them. They’ll form a new hive. This can be done once a year (or more) on a healthy hive in the spring. Meaning... we can double the bee population yearly. They recover very well, if we know what to do to minimize hives death.