Bees represent a foundational element of the world’s ecosystems and agricultural systems. They pollinate three-quarters of the crops that produce fruits and seeds for human consumption, linking their stability directly to human food security. Over the past decade, quantitative evidence has emerged indicating a broad-scale crisis impacting both managed honey bee colonies and wild, native bee species. This data establishes a clear pattern of unsustainable decline driven by multiple interacting environmental stressors.
Quantifying the Crisis: Managed Honey Bee Losses
Statistics on bee health most frequently relate to the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), the species managed commercially for agricultural pollination. In the United States, annual surveys document an unsustainable rate of colony mortality. Beekeepers reported a loss of an estimated 55.6% of managed colonies between April 2024 and April 2025, the highest annual loss rate recorded since 2010-2011. This figure is compounded by elevated winter losses, which reached an estimated 40.2% for the 2024-2025 winter, exceeding the average loss rate of the past decade.
These numbers reflect general mortality, not exclusively Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the term popularized in the mid-2000s. CCD is characterized by the sudden disappearance of adult worker bees, leaving the queen and brood behind. Reported cases displaying these specific symptoms have declined substantially in recent years. High loss rates are now attributed to a combination of factors, including parasites, poor nutrition, and pesticide exposure, which lead to general colony failure.
European managed honey bee populations also face high annual losses, with some regions reporting mortality rates up to 30%. Beekeepers across both continents must constantly replace lost colonies to maintain stable overall hive numbers. This annual cycle of high losses and intensive replacement places significant economic strain on the agricultural supply chain.
The Hidden Crisis: Wild and Native Bee Declines
Beyond the managed honey bee, a significant biodiversity crisis affects thousands of species of wild and native bees, including bumblebees and solitary bees. These declines reflect a loss of biological diversity rather than fluctuations in a managed agricultural stock. An estimated 34.7% of assessed native bee species in North America are currently at risk of extinction.
Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) have shown dramatic range contractions. Populations have declined by 46% across North America and 17% in Europe in terms of occupied habitat. The American bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus), once widespread, has seen its population drop by nearly 90% in the last two decades and has vanished completely from at least eight states. Similarly, the federally endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebee (Bombus affinis) has lost over 95% of its historic range. These statistics demonstrate widespread decline in wild species, signaling instability in natural pollination services.
Primary Drivers Behind the Declining Numbers
The decline in both managed and wild bee populations is driven by three interconnected factors: parasites and disease, habitat loss, and pesticide exposure.
Parasites and Disease
In managed honey bee colonies, the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is the most serious biological factor behind high colony losses. Varroa mites weaken bees by feeding on their fat body tissue and serve as vectors for pathogenic viruses, such as Deformed Wing Virus. These viruses severely compromise the colony’s immune system and overwintering success.
Habitat Loss and Nutritional Stress
For both wild and managed bees, habitat loss and the shift to agricultural monoculture creates immense nutritional stress. In the Midwestern United States, 85.5% of the landscape is dedicated to farming, resulting in the loss of up to 99% of unmanaged tallgrass prairie, a natural bee habitat. This extreme simplification of the landscape deprives bees of the diverse, high-quality pollen sources necessary to maintain immune function, making them more susceptible to disease and parasites.
Pesticide Exposure
Pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids, introduce a direct toxic threat. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that over 3.5 million pounds of neonicotinoids were applied to nearly 127 million acres of agricultural crops annually between 2009 and 2011. Studies show that honey bee colonies in corn-dominated agricultural areas experienced daily mortality counts 3.51 times higher than colonies in corn-free sites during planting season. Even at sublethal levels, exposure impairs navigation, reduces queen production, and decreases sperm viability in male drones by approximately 39%, undermining the reproductive capacity of both managed and wild bee species.
Ecological and Economic Implications of the Data
The persistent and widespread decline evidenced by these statistics translates directly into profound ecological and economic consequences for human society. Globally, insect pollination supports more than 75% of the world’s food crops, including essential produce like fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The disruption of this ecosystem service threatens the stability of the global food supply chain, particularly regarding the nutritional diversity of the human diet.
The economic value of this pollination work is quantified in the billions, providing a clear measure of the risk posed by the statistical declines. The global economic value of insect pollination is estimated to be just under $200 billion annually, with some analyses placing the figure as high as $577 billion. In North America alone, the annual value of bee pollination services to agriculture exceeds $15 billion. The loss of these pollinators would not only destabilize the natural environment but would necessitate costly and often less effective human intervention to maintain crop yields.