Shortly after the release of a report pointing to a grim outlook for the nation's honeybees, the White House has unveiled a proposal to curb the downward trend.
According to the Associated Press, the federal government released their proposal Tuesday. The plan to help boost the U.S.' honeybee population calls for monetary support as well as action.
"Pollinators are critical to the Nation's economy, food security, and environmental health," White House science adviser John Holdren wrote in a blog post. "Honeybee pollination alone adds more than $15 billion in value to agricultural crops each year, and helps ensure that our diets include ample fruits, nuts, and vegetables. This tremendously valuable service is provided to society by honeybees, native bees and other insect pollinators, birds, and bats."
A collaboration between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Apiary Inspectors of America, the Bee Informed Partnership released a report last week that found 42 percent of the nation's honeybee colonies died out in the past 12 months.
"Here, we can do a lot for bees, and other pollinators," Dennis van Englesdorp, an entomology professor at the University of Maryland who led the study, told the AP. "This I think is something to get excited and hopeful about. There is really only one hope for bees and it's to make sure they spend a good part of the year in safe healthy environments. The apparent scarcity of these areas is what's worrying. This could change that."
The government's proposal would devote up to $82.5 million over the next year and would also consider reviewing federal-approved pesticides.
"From my perspective, it's a wake-up call," Jerry Bromenshenk, a bee expert at the University of Montana, told the AP. "Pollinators need safe havens, with adequate quantities of high-quality resources for food and habitat, relatively free from toxic chemicals, and that includes pollutants as well as pesticides and other agricultural chemicals."
