The number of working bee colonies per hectare (2.4 acres) provides a critical metric of crop health. In the U.S. — among crops that require bee pollination — the number of bee colonies that service each hectare has declined by 90 percent since 1962. The bees cannot keep pace with the winter die-off rates and habitat loss.

Of the $20 billion worth of U.S. crop production supported by pollinators, commercial honey bees are responsible for about half. Wild bees and other pollinators take care of the rest.  The commercial pollentator bees consist of 2.6 million colonies transported by 18-wheelers from place to place during peak flowering.