Texas suffered a 66% decrease in bee colony populations. How does extreme weather affect bees?
Commercial beekeepers in Texas know an acceptable loss of bees can be between 13% and 17% from perennial factors like disease or insects, but they have seen a nearly 66% decrease in bee colony populations since June 2024, according to a survey published earlier this year by honey bee researchers.
In Texas, often touted as a top beekeeping state, bee experts worry that increasingly erratic weather patterns and our harsh changes to our climate could have ripple effects for years to come.
“In some cases, I think we’re going to lose beekeeping companies because they had to essentially just throw in the towel,” Geoffrey Williams, an agriculture professor at Auburn University, told the Texas Tribune.
What role does extreme Texas weather play?
Extreme weather events in Texas, such as the blistering summer of 2023 and the historic February freeze of 2021, are forcing beekeepers like BeeWeaver Honey Farm in Navasota to adapt.
“It seems as though we suddenly get a freeze in February followed by 80-degree weather the next week, then a freeze after that,” said Brandi Williams, farm manager at BeeWeaver Honey Farm, the oldest running U.S. apiary since 1888.
Temperature swings in February and March delay plant blossoming — and that reduces available nectar, which is the bees’ energy source and the key ingredient for honey. Following the 2021 freeze, Texas lost nearly 34% of its bee colonies between April 2021 and April 2022, according to the Bee Informed Partnership’s colony loss report.
A beekeeper checks the progress bees are making in a beehive at an apiary on March 29, 2021, in Seabrook.
Heat and drought also threaten hives. Worker bees fan their wings to regulate hive temperatures, keeping them between 90 to 97 degrees. But prolonged heat above 97 degrees can disrupt brood development and cause die-offs. With Texas temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees both earlier and later in the year, the challenges intensify.
Heavy rainfall from the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast further complicates matters.
“Even ‘good weather’ for honey bees, like rainstorms, can do something to plants most people don’t consider,” Williams explained. Rain washes nectar and pollen — essential for young bees and hive survival — out of blossoms.
“Once the rain ends, plants are nourished with water, but there’s nothing left for bees to forage,…so there’s plenty of flowers, but bees starve anyway,” Williams adds.
Beekeepers Loren Rodriguez, Lane Walla and Nicole Buergers work at an apiary in this photo taken March 29, 2021, in Seabrook. That day, after inspecting the beehive, the beekeepers decided to split the hive.
Still, the exact causes behind recent beehive colony losses aren’t fully understood.
Weather and climate definitely play a significant role in honey bee health, but some of beekeepers’ biggest problems are parasites, pathogens, and pesticides, according to the bee research nonprofit Project Apis m. The group's name refers to the scientific name of the honey bee: Apis mellifera.
Why healthy bees matter
Healthy pollinators are essential for 75% of food crops and 35% of global agricultural production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Yet beekeeper losses, amounting to nearly $635 million nationally, are raising concerns.
Declining bee populations in key states like Texas and California threaten the availability and quality of produce such as apples, blueberries, pumpkins and watermelons, potentially driving grocery costs higher while decreasing quality.
Beyond agriculture, sustained bee colony losses could reduce plant diversity and destabilize ecosystems. A Rhode Island grocery store underscored this by temporarily removing pollinator-dependent products, showing a 52% decrease in available items.
The issue also affects interstate agriculture, with Texas colony collapses disrupting the supply of bees for pollination-dependent crops like California almonds.
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