How Honeybees Support Eastern Washington's Fruit Industry

Commercial honeybees are essential in Eastern Washington for any number of crops. Tree fruit growers are especially sensitive to this.

We have a problem.

Over the course of 2025, almost 70% of all commercial honeybee population has died off.

According to Seattletimes.com,
‘The reason for the decline isn’t clear. It’s probably a combination of things, say Priya Basu and Brandon Hopkins, principal investigators in the Washington State University Honey Bee + Pollinators Program. Scientists call the troubles besetting honeybees “the 4 Ps”: pests, poor nutrition, pesticides and pathogens.
That’s why WSU takes a holistic approach to addressing colony collapse, says Basu, assistant professor of pollinator health and apiculture.’

The lack of honeybees for cross pollination can be devastating for a farmer. That's why WSU has a honeybee + Pollinators program.

There just is no practical substitute for honeybees as pollinators. The idea of mechanical sprayers or robot bees is just not practical right now, and it's not like they are not making progress.

Are there any solutions?

The WSU program has contributed different ways to manage bees so they can survive by moving them indoors in the offseason.

WSU scientists have discovered new ways to control parasitic mites that kill bees

They have field tested a new food source for bees when there is a lack of quality pollen.

WSU scientists have worked towards diversifying the US honeybee gene pool. Using a nationally recognized breeding program.

WSU shares this valuable information through their extension programs providing useful information and techniques for beekeepers, farmers and orchardists in Washington state and across the country.

It truly is a race against time, and researchers are working hard to solve the problems and make sure that we have natural pollinators available.

The next time you're in the grocery store deciding which apples to buy remember, the honeybee was part of the process to make that apple grow and be available to you.