CORVALLIS, Ore. – More than one in five commercial honeybee hives in Oregon did not survive last winter, continuing a financially challenging trend for professional beekeepers.
Between Oct. 1 and March 31, Oregon beekeepers reported a 21.1 percent loss in colonies of the crucial crop pollinators, according to a study by Oregon State University. The latest figures are a slight improvement over the state's average annual loss of 22 percent over the past six years.
Nationally, commercial beekeepers reported a 23.2 percent decline last winter, according to a survey by the Bee Informed Partnership, a countrywide collaboration among research labs focusing on honeybee declines. An average of about 30 percent of colonies nationwide has died each winter over the past decade.
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