U.S. beekeepers lost more than half of the managed bee colonies last year, but there is debate over the cause, with some placing blame on pesticides.
However, that blame may be misplaced.
“This is not to say that pesticides don’t have an impact on bees and can’t kill bees. They do, but the USDA does surveys every year and they find, they ask, you know, beekeepers why did your hives die? And pesticides is not zero, but it’s down on the list,” according to Todd Myers.
He says that if pesticides were the lead cause, farmers would just be shooting themselves in the foot. He notes that farmers reliant on bees are typically the most careful.
“You know, it’s farmers who are the ones who get accused of using the pesticides that kill bees, when in fact, it’s the farmers who are probably the most careful and most knowledgeable about how not to kill bees,” Myers adds. “What is killing bees, and if you talk to any beekeeper— you ask them, ‘What’s the number one thing that’s killing your bees?’ They will all give you the exact same answer and that is a mite called the varroa mite, which is an invasive mite from southeast Asia.”
Mites are considered one of the honey bees greatest threats. They inflict more damage and higher economic costs than all other diseases and pests.
The Interior Department is proposing to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule. This move would make huge strides to empower local decision-making and restore balance between conservation and protecting rural livelihoods tied to these public lands.
September 10, 2025 02:45 PM
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With new renewable volume obligations announced this year, the Iowa Soybean Association says they’ll be vital to a farmer’s bottom line.
September 10, 2025 01:19 PM
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Pressure to lower gas prices across the Golden State could be the saving grace of this year’s corn harvest. California may soon be the final U.S. state to approve E-15 sales.
September 09, 2025 11:12 AM
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Tom Peterson with the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association says taxpayers are “unfortunate casualties” of this overlay now that the Mexican wolf population is stable under ESA guidelines.
September 05, 2025 01:21 PM
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The amendments affect BLM lands in several Western states. Comments on the Sage grouse proposals can be made to the BLM National NEPA Register until Oct. 3.
September 04, 2025 02:16 PM
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Mike Formica with the National Pork Producers Council joined us on Market Day Report with his reaction to the EPA’s rollback of a Biden-era wastewater discharge mitigation plan.
September 04, 2025 01:41 PM
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