Mass deaths of millions of Bees. Is this the beginning of the end?

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/08/record-us-bee-colony-dieoffs-climate-stress-pesticides-silent-spring-aoe

The link is about the mass death of millions of honey Bees which are also used to pollinate crops all around the country in the US.
This has massive implications! Food price increase is a big one. If the US is struggling then they will be importing more and everything will go up for everyone.

I'm actually terrified. Food security is a big worry for me (grew up poor and hungry) and so I have a beautiful well looked after garden full of food. We can manage to basically leave out the fruit and veg from our shopping for half the year usually. Not this year. We have been having to hand pollinate our plants to encourage fruits (pumpkins, courgettes etc the big ones)
I was wondering if something was up and saw this happening in the US. Is it happening here in the UK too? Anecdotally our friends and neighbours (the gardeners or allotmenteers) have seen a fall in pollination the past few years. However we have had a good few housing estates built around the area, so we attributed it to that, less space for wildlife? Our council still uses glysophate weed killer on our streets (which obviously run into our gardens too.)

I'm at my wits end here, I feel like any good I can do is being cancelled out in one second by the powers that be. I can't compete and its so worrying.

Kindly I am a bee keeper and in general bees have done better this year than the past few. Also due to the dry spring summer insect levels are higher than usual.

Your worries regarding insects are valid long term but I do not know why you would have to be hand pollinate? A side from water issues our allotment has been going great this year.

I’m not disputing the peril to bees but I think the drought we’ve had has had more impact on our garden yield this year. The crazy weather cycles are no less alarming so yes broadly we’re probably fucked but like always we’ll adapt and survive

There is a real problem with US monoculture agribusiness. It’s not helped at all by the current US government’s attacks on public funding, environmental causes and science.

I’m not sure the problem exists to the same extent elsewhere - there seems to be more recognition and support for ecological balance in the U.K., replanting hedgerows, encouraging natural pollinators. I don’t know how many crops here depend on commercial beekeepers?

Although very sad I don't think this will have a major impact. The majority of plants aren't actually pollinated by honey bees, instead bumbles, solitary bees and flies do a very good job! And generally speaking natural colonies (where they are allowed to exist) have a very high tolerance to varoa. Like everything, when it's allowed to exist naturally it does better.

I found a paper from a few years ago - a quick look at the conclusions suggests that it’s a minority (albeit growing) proportion of U.K. crops which depends on pollinators but that a lot of the pollination must be being done by wild pollinators. It’s not just (honey) bees.
Doing what we can to support all sorts of pollinators is obviously a good thing for so many reasons.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167880911001046

I wonder where you are in the UK?

Here in rural Yorkshire my garden is alive with bees and wasps, the fruit trees are so loaded we are having to sacrificially prune to prevent bough damage and my friends are having a bumper allotment year.

I totally agree that long term there are concerns that we need to be alert too and addressing. But in the short term wonder if some companion planting would prevent you needing to hand pollinate? I plant for bees in my garden and did the same when I had an allotment.

Im in SE England and have had loads of bees this year. We have been minimising the cutting of our grass (mainly due to the dry weather) and the clover has come through and the entire lawn (not small) has had so many bees and pollinators it’s been lovely to see. We are not ‘precious’ gardeners so don’t mind the garden and hedges looking a bit scruffy when we see how many birds and insects we have.

Also bear in mind honey bees aren’t native to the US - so all colonies have been imported in & whilst there are wild or feral colonies that have escaped & naturalised the majority of crop pollination is from industrial farmed bees which are at greater risk from disease & colony collapse.

There are a few beekeepers near us and I've seen far more bees this year in my house than usual. In fact a lot more insects overall this year than normal (using the windscreen corpse counting system).

The thing that really bloody annoys me is in every supermarket and garden centre there are shelf after shelf of pesticides and weedkillers.

That said, in my garden in the West Country we have never seen so many bees, butterflies, hover flys, lace wings and other pollinators as we have this year. We garden organically.

Lots of plants are pollinated by the wind e.g. sweetcorn, wheat, rice, soya bean.

We've lived in our house for 30 years and I've never known a summer like this for insects in our garden. We adjoin woodland so there's always an abundance of insects and bats.
This year we have seen no lacewings, no maybugs, no grasshoppers, not many beetles or wasps and very few midges. We haven't seen one bat and we usually have at least 60 roosting in the roof.
However there are thousands and thousands of small black flies, which bite. So many that the house is invaded and we cant sit out at all.

I have never experienced anything like this.

Lots and lots of bees around this year! We stopped to count on one lavender plant in a front garden we walked past as there were so many on there - over 20 on one plant.

You are right about the development and use of pesticides having a wider long term impact. That's what i am more concerned about. This year does seem to be better but i think that's comparing the truly awful few years we have had and can't ignore the general trend of significant decreases in pollinator populations.

After public pressure a lot of local councils near me are decreasing pesticides and herbicides and allowing areas to grow.

@LancashireButterPie That sounds shocking. Like you we live near woodland and also next to a church tower so normally see lots of bats. I've only seen one this year.

We've had to move our garden table and chairs as we had so many bees and other insects around the usual area (all marjoram, thyme, chives, wildflowers and lavender) that we were frightened someone would be stung.

It's been a really good year for pollinators in the UK, due to the dry and sunny spring. Last year was terrible, due to the very wet and cloudy spring. Personally my garden has been absolutely full of bees and flies and bugs of all kinds. We also live next to woodland and I've seen as many bats as usual (love sitting outside in the evening and watching them flit across the garden).

I know from my interest in gardening that it's been a difficult year weather-wise in some parts of the US, with more rain and less sun that usual, so that might be contributing.

One good thing Labour have done is uphold the ban on neonicotinoids, which kill bees. They are technically banned, but the Tories had allowed 'emergency' use for years (presumably under pressure from farmers). I do wonder if this has contributed to the increased numbers this year.

They are dying in the USA because they move them around the country and bees dont cope well with the travel and disorientation.

The best thing anyone can do for bees is to plant up native flowering plants. Even a tiny patch will help. Pick a range that flower over a long time and leave the dandelions and clovers alone.

I think if you really want to help then, you need to be championing insects like hoverflies. Just because of their mimicry (defensive colouration) a lot of people mistake them for wasps and kill them when they are completely harmless.

They are far more underrated than bees and people need an education outside of just bees if they want food security.

As for the US bee farmers you have cited others have answered that question above me.

I’ve just looked at some photos of US almond farms. They seem to be rows and rows of trees with maybe some grass underneath.

Is there any good reason commercial orchards can’t underplant with a mix of flowers which attract and sustain a ‘natural’ population of pollinators (ideally multiple species)?

Plant to help pollinators … leave the wildflowers (weeds as some may call them) if you can, don’t mow too early, leave a patch to the wild. Gardens don’t always needs to be perfectly neat.

Honestly it's been absolutely shocking this year. As I said though, we have had a massive amount of new builds the last few years and a lot of woodland has been chopped recently. Not to mention the gradual slabbing and plastic grassing all of the houses have near by. I'm not surprised.

We have had barely anything pollinated this year! We had no plums (could be a mast year though) no courgettes and no pumpkins. By now I should be swimming in courgettes! We have had lots of female flowers but the little fruits have just softened and fell off due to not being pollinated.

I'm glad to hear yours are doing so well though I need to hear a bit of uplift.

Just to add we have had next to no cabbage white butterflies this year either, and we usually have hundreds of caterpillars from them munching everything. Nothing this year, I've seen a handful of eggs on a couple of the plants.

I've been watering thoroughly as we have water butts and I use grey water too so we always have a well watered garden.

I'm in the Midlands
there's been a stark difference in the number of birds too. Only anecdotal evidence but its a real worry. I don't know what I expected when they started building on green sites though

Op I'm noticing less insects also not that that really means much !
My garden is hosting many bees etc but I've definitely noticed less.
We usually have a nest in our garden

Also aren't invasive hornets here eating our bees ?

oh dear I was hoping it was just me but my friends and family have reported the same as you. We are an outdoorsy bunch and so we've really noticed it.

I've put in a pond in My front garden and am looking at one for my backgarden. hopefully this is just a bad year.
no frogs either, there's usually some around.

Although I have seen a hedgehog and loads of foxes

where are you? if you're midlands then me too,

agree agree agree
it's like an ecological desert

oh dear I hope not.
I'm glad to hear lots of people are still having lots of visitors .
I think I'm primed to think the worst as I'm already so worried about it.

I'm going to do a count though and compare it next year. hopefully thi go are on the up for once