Why Are Honey Bees Important? (And Why Are They Dying?)

Honeybees matter for more than one reason. Here are the main ones:

• Pollination. As honeybees collect nectar and pollen, they carry pollen from flower to flower, and that lets plants set fruit and seed. A lot of crops depend on it, including fruits, vegetables and nuts. The USDA estimates that about one mouthful in three in our diets benefits directly or indirectly from honey bee pollination.
• Honey production. Honeybees make honey from flower nectar. People have eaten it and used it as a sweetener for centuries, and it also goes into things like cosmetics and medicine.
• Wax and propolis. Besides honey, bees also make beeswax and propolis. Beeswax ends up in candles, lip balm and furniture polish, and propolis is used in medicine and cosmetics.
• The wider ecosystem. Honeybees pollinate a huge range of plants, and other animals and insects depend on those plants for food and shelter.

A lot of the food and products we use every day come back to healthy honeybee colonies, so when the bees have a bad year, the farms feel it first and the rest of us feel it at the grocery store.

Why are bees dying?

Honey bee colonies in the U.S. are under real pressure. In the 2025 to 2026 national survey, beekeepers lost 39.9% of their colonies from April to April, according to Auburn University, which runs the survey with the Apiary Inspectors of America. The biggest problems are parasites, chiefly the varroa mite and the viruses it spreads, along with poor forage, pesticide exposure and loss of habitat.

Beekeepers replace lost colonies by splitting hives, so honey bees aren't going extinct. Every colony still counts, though, and that's one reason I remove bees alive and don't kill them. A colony taken out of a wall and relocated to a local beekeeper keeps pollinating.