Beekeepers across Utah and the country were warned of hive losses of up to 70% in 2025. That’s not the story Utah State University horticulturist Taun Beddes wants to focus on, however.
“I'm more worried about our native pollinators,” he said. “Because the honey bees, although we do have wild hives that do pollinate and things, you know, they're just the poster child for a whole big mess of problems.”
The decline of pollinators like bees and butterflies is not a new story. Beddes said hive die-off has come to be expected each year, and commercial bee colony providers count on replacing the majority of their hives. And there are a lot of reasons for that. Beddes said those include habitat loss, non-native parasites like mites and other insects, climate change and irresponsible pesticide use.
“Our native pollinators, whether they're bees or moths or beetles, are under similar threat,” he said. “There's just a whole huge combination of things that are causing it.”
One factor affecting honey bees and native pollinators alike is Utah’s abnormally warm fall and the start of winter.
"Honey bees are active, and they're foraging, and there's nothing to eat, but they have a crew of humans putting out all kinds of food blocks for them and sugar waters and things like that that can try to help maintain them through the year,” said Liz Hamilton, program manager for the Utah Pollinator Habitat Program. “But what about non-honey bees? They are also active during these times of year and foraging because they're not going to sleep, because our weather is doing weird things.”
Despite unusual weather, the biggest threat facing native pollinators is habitat loss, whether by drought, climate change or human development. That’s where the pollinator habitat program steps in.
Hamilton's job is to help reverse habitat loss through grants that help landowners plant more native pollinator-friendly plants. She said natives need the most support during these times because they aren’t considered domesticated livestock, like the honey bee is.
“We have native bee species, but also butterflies and moths and some animals, beetles, hoverflies, all kinds of things,” she said. “They're the ones that tend to face more struggles in times like this because they don't have active care or human involvement.”
In Utah, that includes over 1,000 species of native bees.
The program is open to anyone, from individuals to government agencies, who wants to help reverse pollinator habitat loss. Created by the Legislature as a pilot program in 2021, it was granted permanent ongoing funding earlier this year.
Hamilton said the number of plants distributed each year tops 90,000, with nearly 400 locations receiving plants through the program in 2025.
It specializes in native, pollinator-friendly plants that are unique to each ecosystem found in the state. From high alpine valleys to wetlands, each landscape — and the pollinators found there — is distinctive to that area.
”So, as we see that habitat loss, you're also looking at potentially that entire ecosystem loss when one thing dies out,” Hamilton said. “If they've specialized in a particular flower or something like that, then both species lose when one goes missing.”
The 2026 application period for the Utah Pollinator Habitat Program opens March 1.
