Science
A Quarter of Dutch Bee Colonies Did Not Survive the Winter — A Quiet Alarm for Pollinators
According to the annual survey of Dutch beekeepers, 24% of honeybee colonies in the Netherlands did not survive the winter of 2025–2026. It is the fourth consecutive year in which winter mortality has exceeded 20% — a threshold widely treated as the line between a normal "bad year" and a structural problem.
What the numbers actually say
Winter colony loss measures the share of hives that a beekeeper started autumn with and no longer had alive in spring. Some loss is expected every year: cold, starvation, and disease naturally thin populations. But a persistent rate above one in five signals that something in the environment is repeatedly pushing colonies past their limits.
The new figures also reveal sharp regional variation. Groningen, in the north, recorded the highest losses at 41.5%, while other provinces fared far better. That spread is a clue: local factors — food availability, weather, varroa mite pressure, and pesticide exposure — matter as much as any single national cause.
Three facts worth keeping
- The method: The estimate comes from a recurring national survey of beekeepers, not a one-off sample, which makes the four-year trend statistically meaningful.
- The threshold: A ~20% winter loss is often cited as the upper bound of "acceptable" annual mortality; four years over that line is unusual.
- The scale: Honeybees are just one pollinator group; wild bees, bumblebees, and other insects face overlapping pressures, so honeybee data is an early-warning indicator rather than the whole story.
Why pollinators are a systems problem
Bees sit at the center of a food web that humans depend on: roughly three-quarters of leading global food crops rely to some degree on animal pollination. When colony losses become the norm, the warning is not only about honey. It points to shrinking floral resources, pesticide loads, parasites, and climate-driven mismatches between bee activity and blooming seasons.
The Dutch trend is a reminder that ecosystem health shows up first at the margins — in the quiet disappearance of hives over a cold season, long before the consequences reach the dinner table.