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Honey bees across the country are under attack from tiny, eight-legged parasitic mites. These mites burrow between the segments of the bees’ adult bodies or invade their larvae and infect them with viruses — deforming their wings and leaving them flightless.

That’s not only problematic for the bees — whose entire colonies can be destroyed by an unchecked mite invasion — but also for California, which relies on the bees for its food production and economy.

Earlier this month the state Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill that would direct the California Department of Food and Agriculture to establish a health program for managed honey bees. The department would work with beekeepers, farmers, scientists, agricultural commissioners and other stakeholders to provide grants for projects and research that support managed honey bees.

“Without our honey bees, we are at risk of losing jobs and a huge part of our economy,” said Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, a Stockton Democrat and co-author of the bill author. “This (bill) is integral at maintaining our ability to be self-sustaining and contributing to healthy foods in the U.S. and across the world.”

Another Central Valley lawmaker, Republican Assemblymember Heather Hadwick of Redding, co-authored the bill.

Honey Bees and Mites

Compared to carpenter bees or bumble bees, honey bees are much more manageable pollinators that build stronger and bigger colonies. They’re essential for pollinating California’s most lucrative crops, including cherries, melons and almonds. California almonds are a multibillion-dollar industry, and the pollination of California almond orchards serves as the largest honey bee migration in the world.

In 2024, California bees also produced 13.3 million pounds of honey — nearly 10% of the country’s supply — valued at $32.8 million.

But beginning in the late 1980s, Varroa mites originally native to Asia began infiltrating bee colonies in the U.S. By the early 2000s, they were “in everyone’s hives,” said Ryan Burris, the president of the California State Beekeepers Association and a third generation beekeeper.

Pesticides and other pest management methods stabilized the bee population over the decades somewhat. But commercial honey bee deaths have been soaring in the U.S. in recent years, and the reason why remains unclear. Between June 2024 and March 2025, beekeepers lost 1.6 million colonies — an average of 62% of their colonies. This nationwide scarcity has also given rise to more beehive thefts.

Besides the mites, honey bees are threatened by pesticides, habitat loss and a lack of food and nutrition. Each hazard presents its own problems, but the mites in particular have vexed beekeepers.

Killing the mites with pesticides is complex: The mites have grown resistant to some chemicals, so beekeepers have to routinely swap out different pesticides while trying to avoid contaminating the bees’ honey with large doses of chemicals. The financial losses due to mites can be staggering, according to Burris.

“There’s a time when you’re treating, treating, treating. You want to give the bees a break but the mites just come back,” Burris said. “They blow up, and all the money you spent trying to save and treat the bees is out the door. It’s totally disheartening because this is our livelihood. A hive can get you almond pollination money; pollination money off of other crops; and honey.”

A Health Program for Bees

The Managed Honeybee Health Program proposed by Ransom and Hadwick would provide grants to help beekeepers and farmers plant more crops for bees to forage on; buy feed; or purchase probiotics to improve the bees’ health, among other things

The program would be funded either through the state, nonstate, federal and private funds or a combination. Funding for the grants would likely range in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to the low millions, while operating costs, such as staff to manage contracts, would cost in the low hundreds of thousands, according to Carson Knight, a legislative aide for Ransom’s office.

While there is no formal opposition to the proposal, securing the funding could be a tough sell for lawmakers as they grapple with a $12 billion budget shortfall.

The bill is currently before the Senate Agriculture Committee, where it could be considered as early as mid-July. Until then, Burris said he is crossing his fingers that the measure, if signed into law, will help the beekeeping industry.

“Bees are so important,” Burris said. Without the bees, “you can take out three-quarters of your supermarket.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.