Cornell bee experts are analyzing samples of bees and related material to help identify the cause of unprecedented managed honeybee losses this winter.

In January 2025, commercial beekeepers discovered sudden mass honey bee colony losses (60-100%).

April 7, 2025 - We just wrapped the most deadly winter on record for commercial honey bees in the U.S. They not only make honey, they also pollinate more than a hundred U.S. crops here for a total of $18 billion in agricultural revenue. KVPR's Kerry Klein reports from central California, where the bee industry is scrambling to recover from these sudden, massive losses.

The sudden and unexplained deaths of honey bees in the past year have sparked a national investigation to determine what killed untold numbers of these pollinators.

July 8, 2025 - Norman Carreck, a senior technician at the University of Sussex, who was not involved in the research, says: “Sadly, it was inevitable that major honeybee colony losses would again occur in the US at some point.

May 8, 2025 - “In January 2025, beekeepers across the country began reporting unexpected large-scale honey bee losses—we now know the largest ever recorded in the U.S.,” said Danielle Downey, executive director of Project Apis m. “In response, USDA ...

March 25, 2025 - The latest, record leap in honeybee losses is now being investigated by staff at the US Department of Agriculture, which is analyzing bees, wax and pollen to determine if parasites and viruses are to blame for the deaths.

March 26, 2025 - Honey bee colonies in the U.S. are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025, entomologists at Washington State University said on Tuesday.

In January 2025, beekeepers again discovered sudden losses. In response, surveys were shared to determine the extent of the problem and samples were collected.

Whatever the culprit or culprits, beekeepers have been severely affected by these loss events. It is of the utmost importance for the commercial beekeepers participating in this study to pinpoint the underlying issue before the arrival of winter in 2024. Many beekeepers said they could not recoup from a similar event if it were to happen in 2025.

ARS Home » News & Events » News Articles » Research News » 2025 » USDA Researchers Find Viruses from Miticide Resistant Parasitic Mites are Cause of Recent Honey Bee Colony Collapses

March 13, 2025 - In 2006 when Colony Collapse Disorder was first seen in large numbers of commercial migratory honeybee hives in the USA, Dr. Marla Spivak, world renowned Bee Researcher at U of MN coined the phrase "death by 1000 cuts" to describe what was wrong with our bees.

That was the highest loss ever recorded in the industry, said Dr. Britteny Kyle, who gave two honey bee sessions at the AVMA Convention 2025 in July in Washington, D.C.

March 26, 2025 - Honeybee deaths in the United States ... of the country’s bees. “The start of the 2025 almond pollination season was met with unprecedented colony losses which have shaken the beekeeping industry....

March 2, 2025 - The jar’s label whispers a quiet warning: “Limited Supply.” Out in the fields, where bees should be buzzing through blossoms, there’s an eerie silence. This isn’t a dystopian movie—it’s the reality hitting America’s beekeepers right now, in spring 2025.

February 23, 2025 - Commercial beekeepers across the country are reporting sudden deaths of honey bee colonies. One industry official called the losses unprecedented.

March 3, 2025 - Luis Hernandez, a beekeeper with Frio Country Farms in Davis, shows an empty bee frame from a hive where the bees have died at the Noria bee yard on Feb. 25, 2025. Beekeepers nationwide are experiencing their highest honey bee losses in decades, ...