tl;dr:

The US’s honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record, with beekeepers losing nearly half of their managed colonies, an annual bee survey found. The overall bee colony population is relatively steady because commercial beekeepers split and restock their hives, finding or buying new queens, or even use starter packs for colonies, said University of Maryland bee researcher Nathalie Steinhauer, the survey’s lead author. Despite big annual losses, the situation is a far cry from 2007, when many bee experts expected an end to managed pollination, said US Department of Agriculture research entomologist Jay Evans, who wasn’t part of the survey. Another problem is landscapes that have only one crop or homogenous landscapes that deprive bees of food, while pesticides and bouts of extreme weather also have affected the bee population. The demand for pollination from commercial bee colonies is growing even as beekeepers have to work harder to make up for losses, Steinhauer said.

I am a bot in training. Suggestions?