Photo: University of Vermont Strategic Communications
Four major North American beekeeping organizations today released the first-ever North American Bee Strategy, a coordinated, continent-wide plan to protect honey bees, strengthen the viability of professional beekeeping, and safeguard food security across the United States and Canada.
The strategy is the result of a cross-border collaboration between the American Beekeeping Federation, the American Honey Producers Association, the Canadian Beekeepers Federation, and the Canadian Honey Council. The collaboration was convened by the Keystone Policy Center, which facilitates the Honey Bee Health Coalition.
“This strategy was built by beekeepers, for beekeepers. The industry set the priorities, the science guided the solutions, and the collaboration across organizations is historic. This is a model for how agricultural sectors can meet major challenges together,” said Matt Mulica, senior project director at the Keystone Policy Center and lead facilitator for the Honey Bee Health Coalition.
Honey bees are responsible for pollinating more than 130 crops and contribute an estimated $18 billion in annual crop value in the U.S. and $7 billion in Canada. Yet beekeepers across the continent face rising threats from Varroa mites, emerging pests like Tropilaelaps, pesticide exposure, loss of forage, and a global surge in fraudulent honey that destabilizes markets and weakens the industry.
“For decades U.S. and Canadian producers have shared similar challenges. What is different today is that we are approaching them with an understanding that a coordinated effort that recognizes the various regional, national and international complexities will serve to benefit pollination, honey production, and bee health in North America,” said Rod Scarlett, executive director of the Canadian Honey Council.
“Collaboration between American and Canadian beekeepers that face the same problems of high hive mortality, low honey prices, threats of invasive pests and the need for better bee research makes this strategy more important than ever. It keeps all trade groups and associations on the same page in our efforts to improve and protect our industry,” said Chris Hiatt, past president of the American Honey Producers Association.
The North American Bee Strategy (NABS) lays out coordinated, actionable priorities to:
- Improve monitoring, treatment, and research on pests and diseases, including Varroa and the emerging threat of Tropilaelaps.
- Strengthen honey authenticity standards and enforcement to curb fraudulent imports.
- Support applied research, shared research infrastructure, and streamlined scientific collaboration.
- Build a more unified and sustainable honey market across national borders.
“Beekeepers work hard to produce a high-quality product, and we want to ensure the marketplace reflects that value. This strategy strengthens the foundation for greater transparency and consistency in the honey market, benefiting producers, consumers, and the broader supply chain,” said Patty Sundberg, president of the American Beekeeping Federation.
“Beekeepers are confronting unprecedented challenges—from virulent pests to fraudulent honey undermining global markets. Bees are central to North American food security and our research priorities must reflect that by directly addressing the damage caused by honey fraud and the urgent challenges to bee health. This strategy directs future investments toward practical, field-ready solutions that strengthen hive health, protect market integrity, and secure the future of beekeeping,” said Dr. Peter Awram, director of the Canadian Beekeepers Federation.
The North American Bee Strategy offers recommendations that are grounded in science, shaped by the experience of working commercial beekeepers, and focused on real-world solutions that can be swiftly implemented. Key recommendations from the strategy include:
- Varroa Management: Development of new treatments, updated thresholds, and streamlined U.S.–Canada regulatory approval for new control tools.
- Tropilaelaps Preparedness: Immediate tightening of import controls, unified federal response plans, sentinel hive monitoring networks, and early detection systems before the pest arrives in North America.
- Honey Authenticity Protections:
- Creation of “standards of identity” for honey, similar to wine appellations
- Stronger enforcement to ensure adulterated honey does not reenter the market
- Development of a continental honey authenticity database and voluntary certification system
- Applied Research Infrastructure:
- Standardized research proposal formats
- A centralized repository for results
- Best-practice research protocols to support comparability and collaboration
The organizations behind the strategy are encouraging policymakers, researchers, regulators, industry partners, and agricultural stakeholders to review the plan and participate in its continued evolution. The strategy will be updated annually as science evolves and conditions change.
The American Beekeeping Federation, American Honey Producers Association, Canadian Beekeepers Federation, and Canadian Honey Council represent the commercial beekeepers who pollinate the majority of North America’s agricultural crops and produce hundreds of millions of dollars in honey each year.
The Keystone Policy Center is a nationally recognized nonprofit that brings together diverse stakeholders to find collaborative, actionable solutions to public policy challenges. Keystone is the lead facilitator of the Honey Bee Health Coalition.
Source: Keystone Policy Center
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