Dear Bee Associations

I am writing to ask you to Save America's Pollinators Act. Our bees and other pollinators are in
trouble. In the last decade the phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder has resulted in a sharp
decline in honey bee populations around the world. A growing body of scientific evidence points
to the widespread and indiscriminate use of a class of neurotoxic pesticides.
Pollinator losses represent a serious threat to Americas food security and agricultural
production. Bees are essential in producing one out of three bites of food we eat every day and
roughly 75 percent of our global food crops, from nuts and soybeans to squash and cucumbers,
from apples, oranges, cherries and blueberries to avocados, peaches and melons rely on bees for
pollination. Honey bees contribute nearly $20 billion to the U.S. economy and $217 billion to the
global economy.
beekeepers have reported annual losses of at least 30 percent each winter This past winter
beekeepers have reported that the epidemic CCD decimated 50-70 percent of their bees -- the
worst year since this phenomenon was recognized. In July 2013, 37 million bees were reported
dead across a single farm in Ontario. Almond farmers, berry farmers and others in the United
States are facing shortages of bees necessary to pollinate their crops and the cost to farmers of
renting bees for pollination services has increased by up to 20 percent.
Neonicotinoids are now the most widely used insecticides in the world and their use has been
repeatedly shown to have lethal effects on bees, other pollinators and beneficial insects. For
example, in June of 2013, 50,000 bumblebees were killed as a direct result of exposure to a
neonic applied to trees for cosmetic purposes.
EPA granted a conditional registration to the neonicotinoid clothianidin in 2003 without the
required field study on pollinator impacts. This requirement has never been met, yet clothianidin
remains one of the most commonly used insecticides more than decade after EPA found it had
insufficient basis for registration requirements.
EPA has delayed review of neonicotinoid registration until 2018. However, if current rates of bee
die-offs continue, its unlikely that the beekeeping industry will survive this delayed timeline,
putting our agriculture industry and our food supply at serious risk.
The bees cant wait, and neither can we.
Congress must take action to spur the EPA to take immediate action to protect bees. Please help
protect bees and other important pollinators by supporting H.R. 2692, the Save America's
Pollinators Act.
Sincerely,

Khadejah