Lewis Bartlett, assistant professor of honeybee health in the Odum School of Ecology, spoke with Georgia Public Broadcasting about severe losses beekeepers are facing — as high as 60% in the past year — due to weather and parasites.
Warmer winters mean bee larvae don’t get breaks from the mites that latch onto them.
“So, as our winters have got warmer, we’ve seen more and more severe disease because there’s no wintertime to interrupt that cycle,” Bartlett said.