MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
All right, we're going to move on to some other news while we sort connections. I will tell you, honeybees are prolific. They pollinate more than a hundred varieties of fruits and vegetables and nuts grown in the U.S., adding about $18 billion to crop production each year. That's according to data from the USDA. Without honeybees, only about a third of those crops would be available in stores. But more than a million honeybee colonies have died across the country in recent years. And while that crisis continues, the nation's premier federal bee research lab is slated to close. Harvest Public Media's Macy Byars reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF BEES BUZZING)
MACY BYARS, BYLINE: On a sunny spring day in Omaha, Nebraska, beekeeper Mark Welsch is taking advantage of the nice weather and checking on his honeybee hives in a downtown garden.
MARK WELSCH: There's nothing much more relaxing than sitting next to a beehive - in the spring, especially - and watching them bring in different colored pollens.
BYARS: Though Welsch enjoys tending to his bees, last year wasn't so relaxing.
WELSCH: I had 12 hives going into the winter. I lost nine of them and had three left.
BYARS: That was happening across the country. About 1.6 million colonies died across the U.S. in the winter of 2024 and the following spring, affecting everyone from commercial beekeepers to backyard honey producers. Project Apis m., a bee research nonprofit, also found many beekeepers lost 60- to 80% of their colonies. In a crisis situation, beekeepers usually turn to the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. Researchers there have been studying bees since the 1930s. Danielle Downey, Project Apis m.'s executive director, says the USDA is typically one of the biggest advocates for the beekeeping industry.
DANIELLE DOWNEY: That's where we would hear from leadership about how bees are doing. And if there was a crisis, it would be the USDA that really is a big voice about raising awareness and trying to get support for our agricultures.
BYARS: Downey says, last year, communication with the USDA, including researchers, was sparse. Although researchers have said pesticide-resistant mites, weather and habitat loss may all play a role in the collapse. Jeff Pettis was a honeybee researcher at the Beltsville facility for 20 years, and he led the bee lab for nearly half that time.
JEFF PETTIS: It basically was the crown jewel of all the agricultural research of USDA.
BYARS: Over the years, Pettis says, Beltsville's bee lab has helped tamp down risk in beekeeping with products like coats for hives and solutions to kill pests. But last summer, the USDA announced it would close the entire facility. Pettis says slowing down research could leave beekeepers less equipped to handle new diseases and climate change.
PETTIS: Right now, we're worried as much about the bees as we are about the beekeepers. We need them for apples. We need them for almonds. We need them for clover pollination, all kinds of things.
BYARS: Although there's been no public date given, a USDA spokesperson said in a statement to Harvest Public Media that the proposed closure saves taxpayer dollars, consolidates resources and, quote, "allows USDA to deliver on its mission to the American people." With the uncertain fate of federal bee research, university labs may be the next line of defense for disease response and research.
WELSCH: Start with a joke (ph). Tell them how (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Laughter).
BYARS: Back in Omaha, beekeeper Mark Welsch is gearing up for another busy season. In the summer, he spends up to six hours a day caring for his hives.
WELSCH: Put it this way - my wife considers herself a bee widow in the summertime, if that gives you any idea how long I'm gone.
(SOUNDBITE OF BEES BUZZING)
BYARS: Welsch says, despite any setbacks, he'll still be testing for mites, feeding the bees and harvesting honey. For NPR News, I'm Macy Byars in Omaha, Nebraska.
(SOUNDBITE OF ISAAC STERN, FRANZ WAXMAN AND UNKNOWN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S PERFORMANCE OF RIMSKY-KORSAKOV'S "FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.