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The growing and widespread use of toxic neonicotinoid pesticides (“neonics”) is a major contributor to the alarming decline of honey bees. This poses a serious threat to our food supply, to wildlife and to human health. We need to pass the 2015 Pollinator Protection Act (SB163/HB605) to label nursery plants treated with toxic, bee-killing pesticides and restrict their consumer use.
Beekeepers have reported average hive losses of 30 percent or higher each year since 2006; in 2012, Maryland beekeepers lost nearly 50 percent of their hives. These numbers are simply not sustainable.
Honey bees and other pollinators are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat.
Many fruits and vegetables, including apples, blueberries, strawberries, carrots and broccoli, as well as almonds and coffee, rely on bees.
We need to restrict these toxic chemicals now!
Consumers may be unaware that many “bee-friendly” garden plants sold at home garden centers have been pre-treated with these bee-killing pesticides. More than half of “bee-friendly” plants purchased at Home Depot, Walmart and Lowes stores in 18 cities across the US and Canada, including in Maryland, had levels of neonicotinoids, at sufficient levels to kill bees outright, according to a recent study.
