You’ve seen them buzz and bumble through gardens and bluebonnets, but don’t think of bees as scary bugs or annoying pests — they’re important pollinators. On May 19, President Barack Obama announced new steps to protect pollinators, bees in particular.
“We are potentially in a pollinator crisis,” says Shalene Jha, an assistant professor of biology who has studied bees and whose research is cited by the task force. “Honey bees are declining precipitously, and wild bees have also been exhibiting population declines across the globe. Native bees provide critical pollination services for fruit, nut, fiber and forage crops. Understanding how bees move around the landscape can help us both preserve biodiversity and improve crop yields.”
