Impact of regenerative grazing on honey bee health

By Craig Madsen

 An interesting study conducted by Jonathan Lundgren with the Ecdysis Foundation compared the impact of regenerative grazing versus continuous grazing on honey bee health and productivity. Why is this important? Honey bees play a key role in our food production. In the last 15 to 20 years there has been as significant change in over winter loss of bee hives prior to 2007 the average over winter loss was around 15%. Between 2007 to 2013 the average over winter loss doubled 30%. During the winter of 2024 the winter loss for commercial beekeepers was 62%. These rates of loss related to significant financial loss to commercial beekeepers as limited the number of hives available to pollinize our food supply. This study points to one more reason to look at the benefits of regenerative grazing.

 The Regenerative grazing was defined as a series of farm-adapted practices that simulate the role of grazers in a natural system. In regenerative grazing management larger pastures are divided into smaller paddocks, allowing more flexibility over the timing and intensity of the grazing as well to plan for recovery of the plant communities before the next grazing treatment.

In summary, the management of the rangelands significantly altered the flowering plant communities. There was more floral abundance and species diversity on the regeneratively managed rangelands.  This increase in biodiversity benefits the health and productivity of the honey bees.