Beehive Wipeout Is Crimping Harvests as Crisis Enters New Stage

On Canada’s blueberry farms, there simply aren’t enough bees. It’s a troubling sign, experts say, of what could happen elsewhere.

Canadian beekeepers have on average lost half their pollinators this year, which is affecting the country’s most valuable fruit crop.

Photographer: Gavin John/Bloomberg
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The global honeybee crisis has reached alarming levels in Quebec’s blueberry pastures.

It’s flowering season at Nicolas Pedneault’s farm in the French-speaking Canadian province and every bee that lands on a blossom helps boost his blueberry crop. Hundreds of hives dot his fields, but he needs more—and can’t get them.