Northwest Honey Bee Colony Numbers Continue To Drop

Earlier this month, USDA released its Honey Bee Colonies report.

“January 1st we had 2.63 million honeybee colonies here in the U.S.," said Lane Honig with NASS.  "That was down 1% from a year earlier. But by April 1st of this year, that number was up to 2.99 million colonies, and that's actually up 6% from that same time frame a year earlier.”

Honig says these counts are not focused on the honeybee operations, but rather on the colonies themselves.

“Even though we're losing normally 10% of our colonies on an ongoing basis, we're adding them back," Honig said.  "You've also got to take care of the colonies you've got, and so we did publish some numbers on those renovated colonies as well. And so in other words, they're doing some work there to revitalize things.”

What Was The Biggest Stressor In 2024?

Varroa mites were the number one stressor for operations with five or more colonies throughout 2024.  The period with the highest percentage of colonies reported to be affected by varroa mites was the 2nd quarter of 2024, April through June, at 36.6%. 

Northwest Colony Numbers

NASS reported 50,000 honey bee colonies in Washington as of January 1st, a 6% year over year drop.  Oregon reported an 8% dip in colony numbers, down to 90,000 statewide.  And 195,000 colonies were reported in Idaho, a 12% drop from January 2024.

Click Here to read the Honey Bee Colonies report.

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