DATA STORY · WIDGET 37

Honey Bee Colony Loss Monitor

U.S. winter losses 2006–2024 · COLOSS European comparison · threshold exceeded every year

Record loss
48.2%
2022–23
Years above threshold
18 / 18
every year since 2006
EU mean (COLOSS)
16.4%
2018–19 survey
Global colonies
2×
1961→2019 (FAO)
U.S. Winter Colony Loss — % of Managed Colonies Lost
BeeInformed Partnership annual survey, 2006–07 to 2023–24 · Dashed line = beekeeper-defined acceptable loss (~19%)
0%10%20%30%40%50%~19%06-0707-0808-0909-1010-1111-1212-1313-1414-1515-1616-1717-1818-1919-2020-2121-2222-2323-24
≥40% — severe (record: 48.2%)
28–39% — elevated
<28% — moderate (still above threshold)
The Replacement Paradox

Global managed honey bee colonies roughly doubled — from ~45 million (1961) to ~90 million (2019) — even as winter loss rates stayed elevated (FAO FAOSTAT). The colony count rose because commercial beekeepers became skilled at "splitting" surviving colonies to replace losses. But this beekeeper treadmill requires escalating management cost and labour and does not indicate improving bee health. Each replacement colony is more Varroa-naive than the one it replaces.

~45M
colonies (1961)
→
~90M
colonies (2019)
while
33%
avg U.S. winter loss
European Winter Losses — Selected Countries
COLOSS Network 2018–19 survey · Brodschneider et al. (2021) · Dashed line = 19% threshold
🇫🇷 France24.2%
🇨🇿 Czech Republic21.3%
🇭🇺 Hungary19%
🇦🇹 Austria17.2%
🇨🇭 Switzerland16.4%
🇧🇪 Belgium15.3%
🇳🇱 Netherlands12.8%
🇩🇪 Germany11.9%
🇬🇧 UK9.8%
🇪🇸 Spain8.9%
Bar truncated at 30% for readability · Red line = 19% acceptable threshold · 10 countries shown of 33 surveyed
Key Findings
📉
Threshold breached every year
U.S. winter losses exceeded the beekeeper-defined ~19% acceptable threshold in all 18 survey seasons (2006-07 to 2023-24). The threshold itself is self-defined by beekeepers as "normal" attrition — meaning actual losses are consistently extraordinary.
🦟
Varroa destructor is the primary driver
The mite arrived in the U.S. ~1987 and is now endemic. It suppresses immune function, transmits 20+ viruses, and drives Deformed Wing Virus at colony-collapse levels. Effective Varroa management — oxalic acid, formic acid, brood breaks — can halve winter losses.
🌍
Why Europe fares better
EU neonicotinoid restrictions (2018 near-total outdoor ban) removed a key immunosuppressant stressor. Stricter pesticide monitoring, smaller average operation size enabling intensive Varroa treatment, and more diverse agricultural floral resources also contribute. Australia (Varroa-free until 2022) historically recorded <5% winter losses.
🍯
The honey supply implication
U.S. honey production per colony has declined ~30% since the 1990s as weakened colonies have shorter active foraging seasons. This partly explains the domestic honey price increase documented in USDA Honey Reports — fewer bees per surviving colony means less honey per hive even when colony counts are steady.
🐝
World Bee Day — May 20

Established by the UN in 2018. The colony loss data on this page is central to why World Bee Day exists — and why addressing Varroa, pesticide exposure, and habitat loss matters beyond honey production.

Embed on Your Site — Free

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  src="https://rawhoneyguide.com/tools/honey-bee-colony-loss"
  width="100%" height="1100"
  frameborder="0" loading="lazy"
  title="Honey Bee Colony Loss Monitor">
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FAQ
Why have U.S. losses been higher than European?
The EU banned most outdoor neonicotinoid uses in 2018 following evidence of sublethal immunosuppression in bees. Clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam — still widely used in U.S. corn and soybean seed treatments — are associated with impaired navigation, immune suppression, and increased Varroa disease susceptibility. The policy divergence is the largest single variable explaining the U.S.–EU loss gap.
Does 48% winter loss mean 48% of all bees died?
No — it means 48% of managed colonies were lost over winter 2022-23. Each colony contains 10,000–60,000 individual bees. A "lost" colony may have died from starvation, Varroa disease, or queen failure, or was too weakened to survive spring. Beekeepers replace losses by splitting surviving strong colonies, purchasing new packages, or catching swarms — so the total managed colony count can recover within one season.
Which data source does this monitor use?
U.S. data: BeeInformed Partnership Annual National Colony Loss and Management Survey (2006-07 to 2023-24), managed by the University of Maryland with USDA-ARS funding. European data: COLOSS Network winter loss survey 2018-19, published in Brodschneider R et al. (2021), Journal of Apicultural Research 60(3):409-422. Global colony counts: FAO FAOSTAT livestock dataset, 2021 release.
Sources
  • BeeInformed Partnership (2024). Annual National Colony Loss and Management Survey, 2006–07 to 2023–24. University of Maryland / USDA-ARS. beeinformed.org.
  • Brodschneider R et al. (2021). Multi-country loss rates of honey bee colonies during winter 2018–19 from the COLOSS survey. Journal of Apicultural Research 60(3):409–422. doi:10.1080/00218839.2021.1906073.
  • FAO (2021). FAOSTAT Livestock Primary dataset — Hives of bees. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. fao.org/faostat.
  • Switanek M et al. (2017). Modelling seasonal effects of temperature and precipitation on honey bee winter mortality. Climate Research 74:25–37.