Sweet Relief: How Breweries and Distilleries Are Helping Honeybees | Imbibe Magazine

Photo: Caledonia Spirits

Honeybees have flown into devastating headwinds. Since 2006, beekeepers have seen mounting cases of worker bees abandoning hives, an unexplained phenomenon called colony collapse disorder. America has lost more than 50 percent of its honeybee colonies since 1947, from an estimated 6 million to 2.8 million in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The declines directly threaten food supplies: More than 90 commercial crops depend on honeybee pollination, including almonds, pumpkins, blueberries, apples, and raspberries.

“People don’t realize how many crops honeybees pollinate,” says Keith Seiz, the ingredient marketing representative for the National Honey Board. No bees mean no cider, blueberry ales, or blackberry Bramble cocktails. The honeybee’s agricultural importance always extends “beyond honey,” Seiz says.

In their quest to make memorable beers, spirits, wines, meads, and ciders, producers are stepping up to support honeybees, a story I report for Imbibe. This was definitely one of the more complex articles I’ve reported. Definitely a topic that stretches far and wide, across beverage and food production.