Source: US Department of Energy
Overview
As they travel from flower to flower, bees and other insects carry pollen with them from one plant to the next. This is crucial for flowering plants to reproduce. According to the USDA, pollinators are responsible for the growth of 35% of the world’s food supply. This substantially boosts the crop yields of everything from apples to soybeans. The National Library of Medicine reports that pollinators contribute over $16 billion to US GDP alone, and globally make up $177 billion in worldwide economic value.
How are the bees in 2025?
When we first wrote this article in 2017, we gravely reported that bee/pollinator populations were on the decline globally. But today, we have a much more interesting story to tell.
Strangely, 2019–2024 were fantastic years for the bees, adding nearly 1 million colonies in the United States alone.
If this is just as much of a shock to you as it is to us—don’t worry. We’ve gotten to the bottom of this sweet surprise for you.
Why the sudden bee boom?
The answer is simpler than you think—but unfortunately it’s not necessarily a feel-good story about environmental activism or the climate changing for the better. It comes down to something a bit more tangible: money.
Most of America’s new hives can be traced back to Texas, with rapid growth beginning back in 2012, conveniently the year after Texas signed the “bee bill” into law.
Sources: Census of Agriculture from the National Agricultural Statistics Service & Department of Data / THE WASHINGTON POST
After the bee bill was signed into law, Texas landowners qualified for agriculture valuations on their property taxes (or what everyday people call tax exemptions), if their properties, which had to be a minimum of five acres, also raised bees.
The incentive worked, and small farms began to house bees across the state. Headlines drastically shifted from the bees’ demise to their population’s rapid uptick.
This serves as an important reminder, especially in our current time, with the One Big Beautiful Bill’s threats to tax cuts that incentivize the growth of solar power, that tax credits have real, tangible impacts that better the world in many ways. whether that’s protecting our food supply or promoting carbon-zero energy alternatives.
However, it’s not necessarily black and white. Just because more people are “farming” bees, does this mean that native pollinator populations are growing?
The short answer: no.
Included in The Washington Post article is an integral point to keep in mind when thinking about the bee boom. Mace Vaughan, who leads pollinator and agricultural diversity at Xerces explained it better than we ever could, “‘You wouldn’t be like, ‘Hey, birds are doing great. We’ve got a huge biomass of chickens!’ It’s kind of the same thing with honeybees,’” she said. “They’re domesticated. They’re essentially livestock.’”
She continues, “‘The way you support both honeybees and beekeepers — and the way you save native pollinators — is to go out there and create beautiful flower-rich habitat on your farm or your garden.’”
That’s where we step in.
Solar Developers’ Role
Creating pollinator habitats is one element of the increasingly popular practice of ‘agrivoltaics‘: simultaneously using land for both solar energy production and agricultural purposes. In a typical solar farm, the ground under and around the panels is planted with grass to control soil erosion. By replacing the grass with native wildflowers or other crops, solar farms can be turned into an ideal habitat for bees, butterflies, and many other kinds of birds and insects.
In addition to supporting pollinators, native wildflowers have several other advantages over grasses for use in solar development. Because they grow naturally in the area, they tend to be hardier and require less maintenance. Developers can also select species that are naturally short and don’t require mowing. Wildflowers have root systems that extend down several feet, as opposed to several inches for grass, which makes them better at controlling stormwater runoff.
Given that each solar farm can cover hundreds of acres, this habitat can have a massive impact on the lives of native species of pollinators and plants alike, creating a wonderful home for them.
Legislative Support
Many US States now have their own legislation or guidelines for what best constitutes a pollinator habitat. The Clean Energy States Alliance’s “State Pollinator-Friendly Solar Initiatives” (2020) includes the section, State Efforts to Promote Pollinator-Friendly Solar PV, which lays out each state’s legislation to encourage the implementation of pollinator-habitats into more solar projects.
States with Introduced Legislation for Pollinator Protection
Source: National Caucus of Environmental Legislators
Note. Dark blue = legislation introduced. Only five states have concrete legislation passed.
Pollinator habitats enjoy a broad coalition of support from the solar industry, agricultural groups, and environmental activists. It is a cost-neutral way to conserve habitat for vulnerable species while helping neighboring farms increase crop yields. It also allows farms to be developed while maintaining the character of rural communities.
This is truly a win-win for all parties involved, and we look forward to seeing more pollinator-friendly habitat development in the future.
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By: Kolbe Osarchuk
Kolbe Osarchuk is SolUnesco’s 2025 Summer Marketing Intern. She is going into her fourth year at the University of Virginia, majoring in English and Economics.
Published: June 23rd, 2025
Edited: June 23rd, 2025
Sources:
Boyd, M. (2022, June 21). Buzzing around solar: Pollinator habitat under solar arrays. U.S. Department of Energy.https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/articles/buzzing-around-solar-pollinator-habitat-under-solar-arrays
Carrizales, J. (2024, June 3). Texas law would exempt bee-hive owners from property taxes. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/03/texas-bee-bill-agricultural-tax-reduction/
Clean Energy States Alliance. (n.d.). State pollinator‑friendly solar initiatives. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.cesa.org/wp-content/uploads/State-Pollinator-Friendly-Solar-Initiatives.pdf
Fears, D. (2024, March 29). Bees boom as colony collapse reverses? The Washington Post. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/29/bees-boom-colony-collapse/
Ideal Energy. (n.d.). Agrivoltaics – Combining solar energy and sustainable farming. Ideal Energy. Retrieved June 17, 2025, from https://ideal.energy/agrivoltaics-combining-solar-energy-and-sustainable-farming
Inside Climate News. (2025, June 12). Inside clean energy: ‘Big, beautiful bill’ aims to supercharge solar power. Inside Climate News. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12062025/inside-clean-energy-big-beautiful-bill-solar-power/
North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. (2023). How are U.S. states improving protections for pollinator species in 2023? North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.ncelenviro.org/articles/how-are-u-s-states-improving-protections-for-pollinator-species-in-2023/
Sponsler, D., & University of Delaware. (n.d.). Pollinators are essential workers. In PubMed Central. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8396518/
Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension. (n.d.). Agricultural exemption — Texas state bee inspection program. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu/public/agricultural-exemption/
Texas Legislature Online. (2021–2022). Senate Bill No. 1, 87th Legislature, Regular Session. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/821/billtext/html/SB00001F.HTM
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (n.d.-a). The importance of pollinators. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved June 13, 2025, from https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/general-information/initiatives-and-highlighted-programs/peoples-garden/importance-pollinators