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Just as almond milk has displaced cartons of dairy milk in the grocery store, an old Aermotor windmill that once pumped water for cattle now looms over rows of almond trees and beehives that replaced them near Oakdale, California. The rising popularity of nut milks and almonds for snacking both in the US and overseas has led California growers to triple their acreage in almonds since 1995. Almond orchards now cover 2,500 square miles in the state , growing 80 percent of the global supply and worth more than $5 billion in annual sales. Like cattle, almond trees need copious amounts of water—about 1.1 gallons per nut—as well as hardworking honeybees to pollinate the crop, both of which are in increasingly short supply. More than 80 percent of the US commercial beehives are trucked each February to California’s almond groves, where exposure to stress and pesticides can make them more susceptible to mites and disease. Despite best management practices promoted by
the almond industry, beekeepers lost nearly half of their hives in 2022, the second-highest death rate on record. About ninety-five fruits and vegetables grown in North America are pollinated by bees.

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Just as almond milk has displaced cartons of dairy milk in the grocery store, an old Aermotor windmill that once pumped water for cattle now looms over rows of almond trees and beehives that replaced them near Oakdale, California. The rising popularity of nut milks and almonds for snacking both in the US and overseas has led California growers to triple their acreage in almonds since 1995. Almond orchards now cover 2,500 square miles in the state , growing 80 percent of the global supply and worth more than $5 billion in annual sales. Like cattle, almond trees need copious amounts of water—about 1.1 gallons per nut—as well as hardworking honeybees to pollinate the crop, both of which are in increasingly short supply. More than 80 percent of the US commercial beehives are trucked each February to California’s almond groves, where exposure to stress and pesticides can make them more susceptible to mites and disease. Despite best management practices promoted by <br /> the almond industry, beekeepers lost nearly half of their hives in 2022, the second-highest death rate on record. About ninety-five fruits and vegetables grown in North America are pollinated by bees.

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