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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) proclamation to recognize the designation National Pollinator Week (June 21–27, 2021).

Pollinator species, such as birds, bats, bees, and other insects, play an important role in producing more than 100 crops grown in the United States. Honey bee pollination alone adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually and are critical to ensuring our diets are plentiful with fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

See also: Protecting Our Pollinators (AgLab) to learn more how USDA supports the critical role pollinators play in agriculture through research and data collections, diagnostic services and pollinator health monitoring, pollinator habitat enhancement programs, and pollinator health grants.

The worldwide decline in bee populations is threatening the delivery of pollination services, thus leading to the development of pollinator restoration strategies. In the United States, one way to protect and restore bee populations is to use seed mixes composed of pollinator-friendly native plants to revegetate federal lands following disturbance.

Scientists assessed the attractiveness and use by bees of 24 native plant species that are standard for revegetation projects (focal plants) on national forest lands in western Montana.

Forests are incredibly important to pollinators. Forest pollinators can also provide substantial economic benefits to neighboring agricultural areas, as a new global review paper discusses. Forest pollinators are easy to overlook – they are often highly seasonal, especially in temperate regions, and many are active far above our heads in the forest canopy.

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) tracks environment and natural resources legislation to bring you up-to-date, real-time information on bills that have been introduced in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Database provides search options by state (or territory), topic, keyword, year, status or primary sponsor. Topics include Wildlife - Legislation related to wildlife, including protected and invasive species, habitat restoration, migration corridors, trafficking, disease, etc. 
See also: Resources State Bill Tracking Database Archive (2009-2022); includes Wildlife-Invasive Species and Wildlife-Pollinators topics

In 2016 NASS began to collect data on honey bee health and pollination costs. Provides reliable, up-to-date statistics help track honey bee mortality.

The Managed Pollinator Protection Plans (MP3) Working Group is funded by the North Central IPM Center. The group includes about 40 extension educators and specialists, apiary inspectors, and professionals from state and national agencies who work together to share resources and develop educational materials to promote pollinator stewardship. The working group developed presentations and online courses to train pesticide applicators in pollinator protection. The training materials topics include pollinator appreciation, pesticide toxicity and risk to bees, pesticide labels, and planting for bees. The working group aims to provide practical, science-based recommendations to pesticide applicators that they can be part of the bee health solution.

ITP, in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership, is pleased to release The BeeMD at idtools.org. The BeeMD will help beekeepers and others concerned with bees quickly identify honey bee health issues (including colony collapse disorder), through an interactive, visually rich, informative, and easy to use website. This release includes much of the content from the original website first published in 2016. On this new platform, the “visual key” has been completely restructured and streamlined, and the entire website redesigned and expanded, offering additional informational, visual, and supportive content.

Bees are declining in the U.S. and with them the pollination services on which people and wildlife depend. Several national forests have begun to include habitat restoration for bees in their forest plans. Justin Runyon, a Rocky Mountain Research Station research entomologist, and Montana State University scientists identified the most pollinator-friendly plants to include in seed mixes for use in restoration projects in the Northern Rockies.

The researchers developed a scorecard that managers can use to select pollinator-friendly mixes based on local factors such as budget, habitat type, or plant availability.

Since 2009, APHIS has funded an annual national survey of honey bee pests and diseases. The national survey documents which bee diseases, parasites, or honey bee pests are present or likely absent in the United States. The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is known for its importance for honey production. In addition to honey production, A. mellifera is the most commonly used species as a pollinator in the U.S. Honey bees are managed and used to pollinate over 100 crops grown commercially in North America. After the large-scale, unexplained losses of managed U.S. honey bee colonies during the winter of 2006-2007, investigators identified a set of symptoms that were termed colony collapse disorder, or CCD.

Includes a summary of federal and state actions (including state pollinator laws).

The Pollinator Partnership’s mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research. Signature initiatives include the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NPPC), National Pollinator Week, and the Ecoregional Planting Guides.
See also: North America Pollinator Protection Campaign: Wildlife Fact Sheet - Invasive Species [PDF, 156 KB] and North America Mite-A-Thon (national effort to collect infestation data and to visualize Varroa infestations in honey bee colonies across North America within a one week window.

National Pollinator Week (June 17-23, 2024) is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them. In 2007, the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. 

Pollinator Week 2024 is a celebration of the vital role that pollinators play in our ecosystems, economies, and agriculture. Under the inspiring theme "Vision 2040: Thriving ecosystems, economies, and agriculture," this year's event urges us to envision a future where pollinators not only survive but thrive. These essential creatures, including bees, butterflies, moths, bats, beetles, and hummingbirds, are the unsung heroes behind the food we enjoy and the beauty that surrounds us.
See also: USDA Recognizes National Pollinator Week (Jun 17, 2024)

Pollinators are essential to the survival and health of natural ecosystems but are declining worldwide. Because of this, there is urgent need to restore pollinators and the services they provide. One way to address this need is to use pollinator-friendly plants in revegetation projects (roadsides, fire rehabilitation, etc.), but land managers lack information about which plants are best for pollinators. Rocky Mountain Research Station and partners at Montana State University are assessing the pollinator-friendliness of native plant species that are available for revegetation in Montana to produce a guide identifying the best species mixes to support the greatest number of species and abundance of pollinators. This webinar is part of our Science You Can Use series of land-management focused webinars.

USDA supports the critical role pollinators play in agriculture through research and data collections, diagnostic services and pollinator health monitoring, pollinator habitat enhancement programs, and pollinator health grants.

Over 100,000 invertebrates—including bees, butterflies, beetles, moths, wasps, and flies—and more than a thousand mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians take on the job of pollinating plants. Pollinators worldwide are in decline, losing numbers to threats like pesticide poisoning, habitat loss, and disease. The loss of bee populations in particular poses a big risk to both our agricultural system and the ecosystem that supports other wildlife.

Bees and other pollinators, including birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, wasps, beetles, and small mammals, play a critical role in our food production system. A healthy pollinator population is vital to producing marketable commodities. More than 100 U.S. grown crops rely on pollinators. The added revenue to crop production from pollinators is valued at $18 billion. Pollinators also support healthy ecosystems needed for clean air, stable soils, and a diverse wildlife. That’s why USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) partners with the Land-Grant University System, U.S. government laboratories, and private and non-profit organizations to support research, education, and extension programs advancing pollinator health.