BALTIMORE — Honeybees, nature’s most important workers and a major part of Maryland’s thriving agriculture industry — but this year saw massive die-offs nationwide according to the 2025 colony loss survey.
As beekeepers across the country inspect their hives, the losses have been alarming, the highest since 2010.
For one local beekeeper, Raymond Vigliotti, that loss is part of the job.
“They got moisture in the hive and then it got cold again,” said Vigliotti as he inspected the remnants of one of his lost hives."A lot of them probably just froze to death," he said.
In a nationwide survey, beekeepers report an average colony loss of 62%, translating to approximately 1.1 million honeybees gone.
“I think the big beekeepers, especially the commercial guys, they’re in crisis right now,” said Vigliotti.
Many beekeepers are feeling the sting of these losses.
“A good friend in New York who has 700 hives lost 500 this year. I can't imagine that, he's got 200 hives left out of 700,” Vigliotti said.
At this time, there is no clear word on the cause of the die-offs.
“Some people are saying it’s the chemicals, the pesticides, loss of habitat — there's a lot of reasons," Vigliotti said. "And also, this Varroa mite carries different diseases that they spread throughout the colonies.”
Vigliotti thinks it could take years to pinpoint the specific cause that led to the die-offs, but in the meantime the economic impact could be far reaching impacting honey production, crop yields, and setbacks for Maryland’s agriculture sector, which contributes $4.7 billion in output to the state.
“The commercial beekeepers that are losing 16-70% of their hives, they take their hives to California to Florida, you know the almond crop the almond crop everybody speaks of, the oranges in Florida,” Vigliotti said.
Without bees, agricultural output across the board could significantly decline.
“Without the bees, an acre of land may yield 5,000 pounds of almonds, with bees pollinating those crops, you’ll get 50,000 from that acre. So without the bees, your crop totals are gonna be way down this year,” Vigliotti said.
Despite the alarming statistics, Vigliotti maintains a positive outlook.
“Big keepers are losing well over 50% of their hives now. I feel pretty lucky that we’ve only lost maybe 25% of our hives,” Vigliotti said.
This year’s crisis marks a distinct shift as the first-time large companies have experienced higher colony losses compared to small farmers and hobbyists.
