Twenty years ago, honey bees began to disappear by the millions, panicking the entire planet. At the time, the media were multiplying alerts and solutions to save bees. Today, no one talks about it anymore and for good reason: the consequences of the climate crisis have multiplied, threatening fauna, flora and humanity. Is the pollinator crisis over, or simply eclipsed by the noise of world news?
It must be said that the situation is not clear: some say that bees are out of the woods, others maintain that they have never been threatened with extinction. In reality, the warning signs have never stopped flashing: “Our losses increase from year to year”laments to Fast Company Zac Browning, a fourth-generation beekeeper in North Dakota, United States. This winter, it lost more than half of its colonies. Across the country, professional beekeepers have seen an average of 62% of their hives disappear.
This is not an imminent extinction, but an economic and ecological crisis. For beekeepers, bees can be replaced by splitting an existing colony or purchasing new queens. But at this rate, discipline becomes a precarious activity. “Losing 50% of your hives is a sign of a sick farm”explains Zac Browning. Beyond 25% annual losses, the costs of reconstruction, borrowing and inflation accumulate: “We can rebuild, yes, but not forever.”
The situation is certainly less spectacular than in 2006, when beekeepers reported a mysterious colony collapse disorder, and hives suddenly emptied of their adult bees. This phenomenon is rarer today, but winter deaths remain massive. “We continue to see unsustainable losses”confirms Christina Grozinger, professor of entomology at Pennsylvania State University. For two decades, one hive in three has disappeared each winter, a rate that is impossible to manage in the long term.
An economic model under threat
These losses have a direct impact on agriculture. In California, almond growers need two hives per hectare to guarantee pollination, that’s about 1.7 million hives and 80 billion bees! When beekeepers lack colonies, they must join forces to cover all their operations. For the moment, production is holding up, but if the economic model weakens further, an entire food chain will falter.
The real danger, recalls Christina Grozinger, also concerns wild pollinators. They have no “manager” to replenish their populations. Destroyed habitat, omnipresent pesticides, flowering disrupted by climate change: all of these factors are eroding natural communities of pollinating insects.
A danger for wild pollinators
Media awareness in the 2000s had the merit of drawing attention to the crucial role of pollinators in ecosystems and agriculture. “This movement has raised awareness, but it has also reduced the subject to domestic bees only”analyzes Scott Black, director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Many have confused “pollinators” with “honey bees,” forgetting the hundred or so wildlife species that are just as essential.
Certain initiatives, full of good will, have even had negative effects: poorly maintained bee hotels, hives on company roofs, etc. These approaches, seen as eco-responsible, can in reality worsen the problem. In the United States, domestic bees, imported from Europe, are not adapted to all local environments and risk depriving regional species of flowers and resources. “In an ideal world for native pollinators, honey bees would never have been brought here”notes Scott Black.
The good news is that solutions for domestic bees can also benefit wild species: reducing the use of pesticides, replanting flower meadows, hedgerows, restoring ecological corridors, all of this is feasible. What bees lack today is not media attention, but political will.
The real issue is therefore no longer saving honey bees, which will continue to exist because we raise them. The question is whether we are prepared to preserve the conditions that allow all pollinators—domestic and wild—to survive. Because without them, a huge part of our agriculture and our ecosystems could collapse.
