BEE DECLINE: Record low Texas honeybee populations prompt AgriLife webinar

TYLER, Texas (KETK)– Texas honeybee experts are warning that 2024 recorded the steepest beehive population decline in state history. There’s a sting in Texas’ honeybee population.

“This past year, it’s been about 62% losses across Texas. We surveyed over 500 beekeepers, and these losses are somewhere between 60,000 to 80,000 colonies,” Honeybee Extension Entomologist with Texas & M Agrilife, Garett Slater said.

Even though their buzz isn’t a welcome sight for most people, these pollinators are essential to everyday life.

“Every one out of three bites that we eat was pollinated by a bee, so it’s so important for us to take care of our bees and provide areas for them to thrive,” Goodman LeGrand Museum supervisor Debbie Isham said.

In 2024, nearly 20,000 bees in Tyler were moved to the Goodman LeGrand Museum and were nearly wiped out.

“Right after they came, we got Hive Beetles, so I learned a lot about protecting your bees and your hives at that time,” Isham said.

Pesky beetles aren’t the only insect killing off the bee population. Varroa Mites are the main culprit across the globe.

“Varroa mites are basically small ticks that feed on the bees,” Slater said. “Even though they’ve been around since 1987, their impact has just been a lot worse. It seems like the treatments beekeepers are using that might have become resistant to the treatments. These varroa mites transmitted about 26 different viruses. They’re extremely deadly and virulent to honeybee colony.”

Texas A&M AgriLife will host a free webinar on Aug. 29 to address the alarmingly high decline and possible solutions.

“The most sustainable solution is really breeding better bees and breeding bees that can really combat the Varroa Mites,” Slater said.

As for the Tyler bees, they are now thriving after new shrubs were planted.

“If everyone had a little garden or have shrubs, plants, things that bloom, that bees thrive on, that will help keep our bee population up,” Isham said.

Texas is not the only state experiencing this decline. This is an issue across the nation for the past twenty years, but this historic drop could be felt in the grocery stores soon.

To register for the webinar, visit https://tx.ag/BeeWebinar.  Once registered, the link will be sent to the email on file.

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