The threat to the bee colonies isn't limited just to Texas. One survey found that beekeepers across the U.S. lost more than 60% of their colonies last year – amounting to $635 million in financial damages.
Some people are concerned this could lead to higher costs at the grocery store. So why are bees beneficial to agriculture? AFN asked that very question of Garrett Slater, PhD, an assistant professor at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
"Bees are extremely important for pollination … and so a lot of crops, especially commercially managed crops, rely on honeybees for pollination," he began. "You think about the almond industry, even some of our food crops like watermelons, apples, cranberries, blueberries – a lot of this really relies on honeybees as pollinators.
"And there's a fact out there showing that a third of what we eat or we get in the grocery store is directly result of honeybee pollination," he added.
According to Slater, pesticides could be a factor for the decline of bees – and while scientists still aren't sure about that, they do have ideas.
"Probably the major drivers of colony losses are the Varroa mites – small parasites that feed on the bees and transmit deadly viruses. That's been a major driver of causing losses really for the past 40 years," said Slater.
"Second driver probably are the viruses that they're transmitting. Some of these viruses are extremely virulent and they're rapidly evolving and there could be new viral challenges."
He explained that bees are building resistance to miticides that are being used to kill the Varroa mites, and that the best way forward is to breed bees resistant to such mites. Such work is being done at Texas A&M Agrilife to help bring back bee populations.
Finally, he said, homeowners can plant flowers and shrubs that support bees.
