Anonymous,

2019 was a tough year for bees. We can't let 2020 be more of the same.

Last winter, 40 percent of U.S. honeybee colonies died off, the worst loss in 13 years.1 Native bees are on the decline, too. It's time to reverse this dangerous trend, which is why we need to stop using the pesticides that are killing bees.

Tell your state legislators to ban the worst uses of bee-killing pesticides.

A major contributing factor to bee die-offs is a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (or neonics), which can contaminate pollen and harm pollinators.2 Just this past summer, pesticides wiped out 500 million bees in Brazil.3

It's a crisis here in the U.S. and around the world, but unfortunately, we can't count on leadership from Washington, D.C. In fact, the Trump administration actually made the world even more dangerous for bees by allowing the use of bee-killing pesticides in wildlife refuges.

It's time for states to lead the way. Tell your state legislators to outlaw the most common and problematic uses of neonics.

We know that we can make progress at the state level. Maryland, Connecticut and Vermont have passed laws to ban the sale of neonics to consumers. Minnesota, New Jersey and Oregon have taken some steps to protect bees from these bee-killing pesticides, and California has called for planting bee-friendly vegetation on state lands.

As more states ban the worst and most common uses of neonics, we can make the world a safer place for bees. We can give their populations a chance to rebound. We can save these vital pollinators. Let's make 2020 the year we begin to turn things around for bees.

Thank you for taking action,

Hannah Collazo
State Director

1. Susie Neilson, "More Bad Buzz For Bees: Record Number Of Honeybee Colonies Died Last Winter," NPR, June 10, 2019.
2. Lauren Aratani, "Pesticide widely used in US particularly harmful to bees, study finds," The Guardian, August 6, 2019.
3. Thor Hanson, "Why have 500m bees died in Brazil in the past three months?," The Guardian, August 29, 2019.