USDA Stops Funding for Annual Honey Bee Colonies Report

The report gives researchers baseline data on health trends

FARGO, N.D. –The USDA has stopped funding for its annual Honey Bee Colonies report, a move that a local expert says is concerning.

The report gives researchers baseline data on health trends in the honeybee population.

That is important because bees help pollinate a third of the crops we eat.

“We do have reason to be concerned for this because the honeybees are very important to pollination of agriculture crops,” Jan Knodel, an entomologist at NDSU, said.

She says the health of bees hasn’t been good in recent years, and she wants to see funding for the survey in the future.

The USDA has been gathering data since 2015, and a spokesperson says the suspension is temporary.

North Dakota is the number one state for honey production.