Maine’s backyard beehives see highest survival rate in 8 years

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 30, 2025

Maine beekeepers reported the lowest rates of hives lost last year since the state’s apiary program began surveying them in 2016. Honeybee hives regularly die off from a number of threats including parasitic disease-spreading mites, pesticides, starvation and unpredictable weather conditions. But Maine data has shown that trend dropping, which an expert thinks might be due to education efforts. Along with producing local honey, honeybees pollinate about 80 percent of all flowering plants and most of the fruit and vegetable plants people rely on.