Farmers sound the alarm as critical piece of food supply faces collapse: 'Potentially higher prices at grocery stores'
You might not think about bees when you're buying cucumbers or berries, but they're behind nearly every bite. Now, a wave of colony collapses in Texas is threatening the bees we rely on and the food supply they help sustain.
Texas farmers are seeing major declines in their honeybee populations. According to Food & Wine, commercial beekeepers across the state have lost around two-thirds of their colonies in the past year.
A survey by Project Apis m., a nonprofit focused on honeybee research, found that beekeepers across the U.S. lost more than 60% of their colonies last year, totaling $635 million in financial damages.
"If you take a commercial beekeeper with 500 hives … they're looking at about 60% losses," Texas beekeeper Dennis Taylor told Texas News Channel 6 Now. "That's going to be borderline as to whether they recover."
Texas plays a huge role in the U.S. food system. It's the fourth-largest agricultural state, growing over 600 specialty crops, including cucumbers, melons, squash, and berries. Many of these are heavily dependent on pollinators to produce fruit.
Bees pollinate roughly one-third of everything we eat. Without bees, farmers would face increased challenges and rising food prices, particularly for fresh produce.
"A decline in bee populations could lead to lower yields, increased costs for growers needing to rent managed pollination services, and potentially higher prices at grocery stores," said Dr. Tracy Ellis, an entomologist at FarmSense.
Ellis points to multiple overlapping factors, but varroa mites "continue to be the utmost challenge for beekeepers," she told Food & Wine. These parasites feed on bee larvae and spread deadly viruses.
Nutritional deficiencies caused by habitat loss, a lack of pollen diversity, and extreme weather events in Texas also disrupt food resources for bees and other pollinators.
This isn't just a Texas problem, either. California, the nation's largest agricultural producer, relies on Texas-bred bees to help pollinate almond crops, which are 100% reliant on pollinators.
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"In some cases, I think we're going to lose beekeeping companies," said Geoffrey Williams, an agriculture professor at Auburn University.
And because pollinators are "very mobile," as Ellis says, a crisis in one region can quickly ripple outward, threatening food systems across countries and even continents.
Although the crisis might feel distant, there are ways to support pollinators right from your backyard or grocery cart.
Ellis recommends planting "flowering trees, shrubs, and native plants to provide safe forage and habitat for honey bees and local pollinators." And if you want to go a step further, skip the chemical pesticides, which can severely harm already vulnerable bee populations.
You can also shop smarter at the grocery store by choosing seasonal produce and reducing food waste. Supporting local, sustainable farmers also promotes long-term bee health, and you can further help by advocating for stronger environmental policies and donating to organizations like Project Apis m.
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