Mark Welsch is no stranger to the difficulties of beekeeping.
The Omaha beekeeper has been caring for hives for the last nine years — and he understands that not every colony makes it through the cold winter months. But the winter of 2024-2025 was particularly brutal for him.
“I had 12 hives going into the winter,” Welsch said. “I lost nine of them.”
He wasn’t the only one. About 1.6 million colonies died across the U.S. between June 2024 and March 2025, according to surveys from bee research nonprofit Project Apis m.
The losses hit commercial beekeepers as well as backyard honey producers, with many losing 60% to 80% of their colonies.
“Last year there was a really swift and sudden cry for help from beekeepers,” said Danielle Downey, executive director of Project Apis m.
For decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center has been the one to answer such cries for help — a place where beekeepers turn when major disasters happen. Six months after the massive die-off, scientists from the USDA facility identified a likely cause: viruses spread by pesticide-resistant mites. But now, the Trump administration plans to close the research lab, leaving beekeepers to question the future of federal research.
‘A really deep history’
The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center has been the site of major developments in food and farm research in its 100-plus-year history. The Thanksgiving turkey was developed at Beltsville, as well as the first methods used to keep butter cold and fresh. Researchers there linked trans fat consumption to increased cholesterol and uncovered the smallest known plant disease agent.
The facility opened in 1910 as the “Government Farm,” but the history of its bee research laboratory begins earlier. Federal honeybee research in the Washington, D.C. area started in 1891, and the lab was relocated multiple times before permanently landing at Beltsville in 1939.
“There’s a really deep history of that station for supporting U.S. agriculture that’s unique,” Downey said.
Hellbound and Down 