NEW YORK – New York Senator Chuck Schumer wants honeybee populations protected.
He isn’t happy about the decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop tracking the population of the nation’s honeybees, that cited budget reasons.
Schumer appeared at the bee hives in Bryant Park in New York on Monday calling on the USDA to reconsider.
He wants the federal government to keep collecting data on honey bees to keep the species alive and continue to provide a boost to local jobs and agriculture.
“One of the most important things we can do is collect data,” said Schumer. “Which bees, which hives are dying off? What are they near and why?”
A 2017 report from the USDA showed the number of active honeybee colonies plummeted from more than 6 million in the 1940s to roughly 2.5 million in 2017.
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