Honey bee colonies for operations with 5 or more colonies in Iowa as of January 1, 2022, totaled 26,000 colonies. This was up 73 percent from 15,000 colonies on January 1 last year but down 49 percent from 51,000 colonies during the October-December 2021 quarter. The maximum number of colonies during the January-March 2022 quarter was 29,000.
Honey bee colonies lost for operations with 5 or more colonies for the January-March 2022 quarter was 2,800, or 10 percent. This was up 2 percentage points from the same period last year and up 2 percentage points from losses reported during the October-December 2021 quarter.
Varroa mites were the number one stressor for operations with 5 or more colonies in all of 2021.
Categories: Iowa, General