HATTIESBURG — As the autumn bloom fades and his bees brace for the first cold snap, beekeeper Steven Coy is still reckoning with last winter’s losses, when 62% of his roughly 2,000 honeybee colonies died — an unprecedented hit to his operation. 

“There weren’t enough colonies to make enough honey,” he said. “I made about half of what I normally make, and as a result, I had to send my guys home early.” 

Project Apis m., a nonprofit research organization that supports beekeepers, reported that from June 2024 through February 2025, U.S. beekeepers suffered their worst winter losses in more than a decade, with commercial operations losing an average of 62% of colonies. 

What’s killing honeybees? 

Jeff Harris, an apiculture specialist with Mississippi State University Extension Service, said beekeepers expect some winter losses, averaging about 40% over the past decade. Last winter’s spike was driven largely by the varroa mite and viruses it spreads, which weaken colonies and make them less likely to survive. 

“It’s the most deadly parasite that affects bees around the world every year,” Harris said. “That’s one of the big stressors that’s always there, and beekeepers — if you don’t manage this mite, it will kill your bees.” 

The mites, Harris said, have developed a resistance to amitraz, a common insecticide, leaving many keepers unaware their treatments had failed. 

“Beekeepers thought they were controlling their mites … and they weren’t,” Harris said. “They went into the winter with higher mite loads than they thought they had, and their bees were lost.” 

Economic ripple effect

Many Mississippi producers rely on selling starter colonies, called “nucs,” and honey. In a typical spring, beekeepers can replace winter losses by splitting healthy colonies. But last year’s die-off left fewer bees to sell, fewer to rebuild with and less honey to harvest. 

“It just changes everything I’ve got to do for the whole rest of the year,” Coy said. “I’ve got to look at what I can buy, what I have to have and what I can do without until another year.”

Repeated years of high losses, Harris said, could push some producers out of the business, especially as domestic honey prices lag under international competition.

Harris said commercial operations have already felt the pinch, but backyard keepers who closely monitor mite levels can limit future damage. Step one, he said: stop relying on amitraz and shift to other tools, including organic acids or drone trapping. 

What it means for backyard bees 

Ed Hafer, president of the Pine Belt Beekeepers Association, is testing a newly approved organic acid product, VarroxSan, on his 100 colonies after losing 40% last winter. Close management, he said, is critical — especially for beginners — because neglected hives can spread mites to nearby colonies.

With amitraz off the table, he said local beekeepers are comparing notes to find what works.

“I still need to determine if (VarroxSan) actually did the job,” Hafer said. “We’re all in a process of discovery here.” 

The spirit of experimentation, association member Greg Dunn said, is what keeps him interested. He checks his bees every morning over coffee, and after switching to organic acids, he’s seen only about a 15% loss among his 70 colonies — success he credits to the kind of hands-on attention that’s hard for larger operations. 

“(Every day) I’ll make sure the queen is healthy and see what’s going on,” he said. “The big beekeepers can’t do that. They’ve got to hit the ground running, and they don’t have time to look at individual hives and try to keep them alive.”

Beekeepers await the first freeze 

Harris said the window to create healthy “winter bees” has closed, so late-fall treatments won’t undo earlier damage. He worries many producers will continue using amitraz, risking another year of heavy losses. 

Coy has already switched from amitraz and is checking mite counts, hoping to avoid another devastating season. 

“If I lose 60% again, I probably will have to just find somebody to buy what’s left,” he said.

Harris warned that sustained colony losses could eventually affect crop pollination since there would be fewer beekeepers to rent hives to pollinate crops. 

“If you start running out of colonies, then you can start having crop failures,” he said.  

Honeybee producers can apply for financial aid for losses caused by disease, weather and other conditions through the federal Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program.