Minnesota`s model: State sets broadest limits on chemicals blamed for bee declines

The governor of Minnesota has ordered the broadest restrictions yet in a U.S. state on the use of agricultural pesticides that have been blamed for hurting bees.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton issued an executive order that requires farmers to verify that they face "an imminent threat of significant crop loss" before using the chemicals, called neonicotinoids.

Details of how farmers would prove their need have not yet been determined.