Environmental advocates raising awareness of dropping bee population

MADISON (WKOW) – People in Madison are using a summer tradition to raise awareness of the dropping bee population in the state and around the country.

Environmental advocates held a “No Bees, No Food” news conference at the Troy Land and Gardens in Madison on Thursday. They say bees pollinate many of the foods used in summer barbecues and picnics, including strawberries and watermelon.

Officials with the city of Madison are working to limit their use of a certain kind of insecticide that some say is causing the country to lose between 30 and 40% of all bee colonies every year. They say they hope others do the same.

“The silver lining to a man-made problem is that our man-made solution is available to us,” said Mark Woulf, the Food and Alcohol Policy Director with the City of Madison. “We can limit our use of pesticides. We can ban pesticides in certain areas.”

“We rely on bees to pollinate 71 of the 100 crops that provide 90% of most of the world`s food,” said Robert Abrahamian, a field manager with Wisconsin Environment. “And if we don`t save the bees, our summer picnics and barbecues will be a lot less delicious.”...