US honeybee boom: ‘Not only are they not in decline or endangered, their increase in numbers may be responsible for declines in other bee populations’

Today, more than 2.98 million honeybee colonies are currently registered in the United States, according to the US Department of Agriculture — up from 2.35 million colonies in 2002. 

But Andrew Coté, president of the New York City Beekeepers Association, said the fear of a honeybee apocalypse is misplaced. 

“We are not headed for a world without bees,” he told The Post. “But it’s more titillating to shout that the sky is falling than to understand the real story.” 

Not only are honeybees not endangered, they may be responsible for declines in other bee populations. 

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There are just 4,000 bee species native to North America (out of 20,000 globally), and the European honeybee isn’t one of them. They were first brought to this continent in the 17th century and quickly became an essential livestock, with beeswax a major export and honey used to make everything from sweetener to medicine to cement. 

The problem, said [entomologist Manu] Saunders, is that their presence “could be harming wild insects in many places. Increasing numbers of honeybees may be depleting resources that wild insects need, spreading parasites and diseases to wild insects.” 

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