Personally, I care because I love honey, farm grown food, and they are a poster child for all bees. Without them, there is certainly a lot less care for native bees. While yes they are primarily important for large monocropped farms, that’s your food. Like, so much of your food. Native bee populations aren’t sufficient or interested in pollinating our food crops, so yes we should really care.
Specifically, honey bees (Apis mellifera). Native bees that aren’t colony dwellers may not be impacted the same by the mites.
Who cares then, aren’t they only useful for monocropping large farms? Most US bee enthusiasts would instantly cull every honey bee if they could.
Personally, I care because I love honey, farm grown food, and they are a poster child for all bees. Without them, there is certainly a lot less care for native bees. While yes they are primarily important for large monocropped farms, that’s your food. Like, so much of your food. Native bee populations aren’t sufficient or interested in pollinating our food crops, so yes we should really care.