Bee Colony Numbers Show Mixed ResultsBee Colony Numbers Show Mixed Results
The number of bee colonies in the U.S. on January 1st of 2016 versus one year later was very similar.
USDA Statistician Joshua O’Rear said that number doesn’t tell the whole story.
“That doesn’t actually measure the full magnitude of the losses because there are also colonies added back during the year. For instance, during 2016 we peaked out at 3.1 million colonies in the U.S. and then we fell all the way back down to 2.6 million colonies to start 2017.”
In the Northwest, Washington had 77,000 colonies on January 1, 2016 and one year later just 68,000. Oregon went from 68,000 to 71,000. The peak for Washington was 91,000 on April 1st, but that dropped to 57,000 just three months later. Oregon topped out at 107,000 on July 1st which means they lost 36,000 in the back half of last year.
The best biggest challenge beekeepers faced was far and away the varroa mite.
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