New Vermont ‘Bee Team’ to study pollinator threats

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - A new Vermont Pollinator Working Group is tasked with coming up with ways to protect bees and other pollinators from harmful pesticide use.

The group will bring together various stakeholders to tackle threats facing pollinators launching with $20,000 from the Apis Fund as well as another $20,000 from an anonymous donor. They’re also launching an educational campaign called “Know your Five” to raise awareness about Vermont’s native bees.

“It’s an outreach and educational campaign that will identify five important pollinators for the pollination of important crops throughout Vermont. And by really focusing on five of the pollinator species for each crop, it’s going to make learning about wild bees much more manageable for folks and to learn how to support these important crop pollinators,” said Samantha Alger with the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for the Environment.

They hope the group will evolve over time to continue to address threats facing Vermont’s bee population.

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