Having a "weird year" in the United States seems like the new normal, and 2025 is no exception with some devastating reports from commercial beekeepers in California for almonds.
The good news is that in our own Charlie Bee Company bee yards north of San Antonio, we are holding steady. Our losses are within the expected range (I take responsibility for my own losses - usually from my own errors), and we are preparing for an exciting spring as usual. But we are a small-scale, non-migratory commercial operation managing just over 300 colonies.
The bad news is coming out of Central California, where the 2025 almond pollination—the world's largest mass migration of pollinators—is facing serious challenges. Large-scale migratory beekeepers have reported unprecedented losses in recent months, with some estimates pointing to recent reports indicating that nationwide honey bee colony losses have surged past 50%, with some operations experiencing up to 100% losses. These severe losses have resulted in over $139 million in financial losses for beekeepers. The forecast isn’t looking good, and the ripple effects could impact our food supply nationwide.
Here in Texas, it sometimes feels like Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Our bees are going about their usual business, and we are eagerly anticipating the spring build-up and honey flows. But looking at the broader picture, the situation bears unsettling similarities to the colony collapse phenomenon of the late 2000s.
One key takeaway for beekeepers at any level is that none of us operate in isolation. It’s easy to think, "Well, those big commercial beekeepers have the problems, but it won’t affect me." The reality is that we are all interconnected. From the supply chain to queen rearing, from pollination contracts to agricultural sustainability, small-scale and hobbyist beekeepers are tied to the health of large-scale commercial migratory operations. And those operations are, in turn, linked to American agriculture and our entire food system.
Some might argue that the structure of modern American agriculture—with its reliance on chemical inputs, vast monocultures, and the necessity of migratory pollination—is a house of cards. Maybe it is. But rather than watching it collapse entirely, let’s hope we can begin the work of reinforcing the foundation and building something more resilient.
For now, I'm hoping for the best for our commercial beekeeping counterparts and praying they come out of almonds in good shape so we can all move forward. In the meantime, I’ll be out in the bee yards, doing what I love—working with the bees and keeping a close watch on what the year ahead might bring.
In our own bees, this cold snap is looking (fingers-crossed) like the last and spring will be springing. That means feeding sugar water and maybe a bit of pollen patty to get the bees building up, depending on colony size. For my largest colonies, I want to maintain moderate growth because queens won't be available until April and I want to prevent loss of bees to swarming. Again, praying for all the best for the commercial operations and doing what we can right here in our own back yards is the best we can do. See y'all out in the bees!