“The data is showing us this is the worst bee loss in recorded history,”

In addition to making honey, they pollinate 75% of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the U.S. That’s $15 billion worth of crops. Shook said the current losses are unsustainable.

“If this is a multi-year thing, it’ll change the way we consume food in the United States,” Shook said. “If we lose 80% of our bees every year, the industry cannot survive, which means we cannot pollinate at the scale that we need to produce food in the United States.”

Edit: The Guardian has some more exact figures, hard to edit everything on my phone.