LAS VEGAS — Today, beekeepers from across the country gathered at a national conference, with environmental organizations at their side, to draw attention to the growing plight facing their industry -the decline of honey bees – a problem that has far reaching implications for the U.S. economy.

‘Bees and other pollinators are the underpinnings of a successful agricultural economy,’ said Brett Adee, Co-Chair of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board and owner of Adee Honey Farms. ‘Without healthy, successful pollinators billions of dollars are at stake.’

Many family-owned beekeeping operations are migratory, with beekeepers traveling the country from state-to-state, during different months of the year to provide pollination services and harvest honey and wax. Bees in particular are responsible for pollinating many high-value crops, including pumpkins, cherries, cranberries, almonds, apples, watermelons, and blueberries. So any decline in bee populations, health and productivity can have especially large impacts on the agricultural economy.

Honey bees are the most economically important pollinators in the world, according to a recent United Nations report on the global decline of pollinator populations.

On Tuesday, commercial beekeepers shared first-hand accounts of the value of beekeeping, and of the dramatic impact of bee declines. Beekeepers estimate that one single bee kill from […]