Save the bees: Restrict neonic-coated seeds

Bee populations are declining

Just over 100 years ago, the rusty patched bumblebee was considered “common” in Massachusetts, but in 2017 it became the first bee to be listed as endangered. Since then, five bee species have been added to the list, including two in 2024, the Paranissa Miner Bee and the Macropis Cuckoo Bee.

There are about 4,000 native bee species in the U.S. With 1/4 of the bumblebee species vulnerable to extinction, scientists have been probing to understand what’s happening. The answers? Disease, a changing climate, habitat loss and a pesticide that was designed to kill insects. 

Pesticides called neonics are devastating Massachusetts bee populations

In the 1990s, a class of insecticides called neonicotinoids (“neonics”) was introduced. By the 2000s, neonic use increased dramatically from the manufacturing of seeds coated with this pesticide. The EPA estimates that between 70-80% of corn, soybeans and cotton seeds are treated with the bee-killing pesticide. Other common crop seeds coated with neonicotinoids include canola, wheat, sunflower, potato and many vegetables.

Neonics aren’t just used on coated seeds, they are also used as sprays on lawns, home gardens, and golf courses. Fortunately, Massachusetts restricted the consumer use of neonicotinoids in 2021 after the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources released a scientific literature review finding overwhelming evidence that neonics are harming pollinators. The review found that nearly all of the impact-based studies reviewed (42 of 43) cited neonics as a contributor to pollinator declines, and pointed out that the only study with mixed results was industry-funded. These are promising steps towards saving the bees, but we must do more.

We need to restrict neonic-coated seeds

While it may seem like Massachusetts is not a big enough agricultural state to warrant new limits on neonic-coated seeds, we do grow corn. In 2023, the USDA reported that Massachusetts produced 11,000 acres of corn, a crop that typically uses neonic-coated seeds. And the list of crops that use neonic-treated seeds continues to grow.

However, this isn’t just a Bay State problem. Other states have already taken action to save the bees.

Since 2016, Environment America and its coalition partners have helped pass laws in 13 states that have restricted the sale of neonics to regular consumers, i.e. people like us who do not have a pesticide applicator’s license. These laws are very important, but they don’t address the problem with seeds. 

In 2023, two states, New York and Vermont, passed laws that require the presence of pest problems before neonic-coated seeds can be used. In any other case, they are no longer available for use.

We’re calling on Governor Healey to act

More states, including Massachusetts, need to follow suit. We are urging Governor Maura Healey to restrict neonic-coated seeds. The survival of our bees – and all the nature they are connected to – depends on it. With enough public support, we can convince Gov. Healey to save the bees  by restricting neonic-coated seeds in Massachusetts.

Around 380 species of bees call Massachusetts home, and they need safe habitats to continue buzzing from flower to flower. Fruit, like cranberries, also need bees to flourish. So, the 1.9 million barrels of cranberries that Massachusetts produces each year could be at risk without these powerful pollinators.

The bees can’t wait

Entire ecosystems depend on bees and other pollinators. The loss of bees is not just the loss of foods we love, but it also could result in the destruction of diverse webs of life.

We need to move quickly. Bees are our best pollinators, and together we can stop the misuse of the pesticides that are putting them at risk.