A recent US report said that American beekeepers lost 44.1% of their hives between March 2015 - April 2016 - the highest rate of decline since the annual study began six years ago.
There are a number of reasons for this dramatic fall. One is the deadly varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that feeds on bees, and can kill off a whole hive.
At present, varroa infestations can be controlled, but not removed completely.
Bee populations have also been killed by disease, and the use of certain pesticides and fungicides on crops.
Together with the impact of varroa mites, this has also led to a big increase in colony collapse disorder - when worker bees abandon their hives.
In the US the precarious situation has been made much worse since the summer, due to aerial spraying of insecticides to target mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus.
As the insecticides also kill bees, millions have died, wiping out whole honey farms. One report from South Carolina earlier this month said it looked as if the bees had been "nuked".