Did you know that bees and other insects like them pollinate nearly three-quarters of the plants that produce 90 percent of the world’s food? Bees are a small insect that play a big role in their environments. They work to improve plant life, biodiversity, and even our own food supply.
A bill before the Colorado State Legislature recognizes this contribution.
A bill against poison
Seeing the significance of these busy bugs, Colorado has put forward a bill to its state legislature to limit the use of pesticides in order to protect pollinating insects and, by extension, humans.
The Protect Health of Pollinators and People bill would ban the use of neonicotinoids, a systemic agricultural insecticide, for most of Colorado agriculture. Studies have shown these insecticides in particular are responsible for a higher-than-average death of bees and other pollinators, and they have largely been banned in Europe.
Supporting the bugs that support us
The USDA states that bees and other pollinators are responsible for a third of the food we consume. Bees are vital for the agriculture industry, which supplies many jobs in Colorado and in the United States. More importantly, bees are an important part of maintaining a robust food supply.
The bill before the Colorado State Legislature, aiming to help the bugs that help us so much, has had widespread support even before it was a bill. State groups and programs such as The Native Bee Watch program of Colorado State University, for example, work to identify, track, and preserve the various species of bees in Colorado. Native Bee Watch also tries to shine a light on the sustainability we have in a diverse ecosystem, which bees help to foster.
“If we think about all the benefits we have from plants in our ecosystems and around our home,” said Lisa Mason, founder of the Native Bee Watch. “We have pollinators to thank for that.”
