Why we should save the bees, especially the wild bees who need our help most
Protecting pollinator habitat and cutting back on the use of bee-killing pesticides can help save bees of all stripes.
The unnecessary use of pesticides is harming ecosystems and threatening our health.
If you’re lucky, you might see a summer’s field buzzing with bees or a flock of monarch butterflies undertaking their annual migration. But our country’s overuse of toxic pesticides is making such sights less common as it makes much of our country’s environment toxic. Seeping far beyond the initially treated zones, these pesticides are infiltrating our soil, water systems and food chains. Together, we can put our country on a safer path free of pesticides.
Protecting pollinator habitat and cutting back on the use of bee-killing pesticides can help save bees of all stripes.
TAKE ACTION
Want to learn more about the toxic impacts pesticides are having on our ecosystems and wildlife?
They make honey. They live in hives. They have a queen. Right? Not always! Learn more about wild bees.
The use of neonicotinoid pesticides, like those produced by Bayer, has helped make much of America’s landscape toxic to bees.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of an Environment California-backed bill to restrict the use of bee-killing pesticides is a blow to our bees and the ecosystems that depend on them. But our advocacy for pollinators will continue until the necessary protections are in place.
The bill aims at stopping chemical use that “causes unmitigated harm to pollinators, without targeting any part of our food supply.”
Media Clip ● The Independent, serving Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, Sunol ●
In the past two decades, American bumblebee populations have dropped by 90%. If the decline of bees like this native pollinator isn't halted, plants and ecosystems across the country will suffer.
Senior Director, Conservation America Campaign, Environment America
Managing Director, Frontier Group; Senior Vice President, The Public Interest Network
State Director, Environment California