Trump launches knock-out assault on dying honeybees

Already decimated honeybee colonies are the latest victims of President Donald Trump’s policies, a new report revealed Wednesday.

Since June last year, the U.S.’s honeybee industry has seen its worst period ever, The Atlantic reported. More than 60 percent of the insects mysteriously perished.

It threatened devastation for the industry that ships millions of colonies of the pollinators to farms and orchards across the country.

The government stepped in, sending samples to the Department of Agriculture’s five bee-research laboratories in a desperate effort to find the cause.

But, in just a few weeks, Trump has virtually killed that research, the Atlantic reported. Massive funding cuts across the department — along with the rest of government — crippled the ongoing work.

“Now scientists, farmers, and beekeepers alike are racing to recover and prevent the next massive die-off before it’s too late,” The Atlantic reported.

The cuts put the whole industry is in limbo, unable to rebuild wiped out colonies or treat surviving bees because beekeepers have no idea of the cause of the deaths, the magazine stated.

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“Until they have results from the samples that were taken, they don’t know if it’s safe to rebuild with that equipment,” said Danielle Downey, executive director of the non-profit bee group Project Apis m.

“It’s a little frightening,” said California beekeeper Russell Heitkam.

The Atlantic reported that the Trump cuts had resulted in 800 Agricultural Research Service workers being fired. That’s the branch of the USDA that runs the honeybee labs.

“More than 90 commercial crops in the U.S. are pollinated by bees, including staples such as apples and squash,” The Atlantic reported.

“Even a modest reduction in crop yields, courtesy of honeybees dying off or beekeepers quitting the business, would force the U.S. to import more produce — which, with tariffs looming, is unlikely to come cheap.”