Contact:
Christina Locke, clocke@wisc.edu
Claudio Gratton, cgratton@wisc.edu, (608) 265-3762
MADISON – Wisconsin’s honey bees help support an $88 billion agricultural enterprise and play an important role in ecosystems throughout the state. But our bees face challenges. Wisconsin lost around 60 percent of its managed honey bee hives due to extreme cold and other factors during the winter of 2014. There is also evidence that some of our wild bees may be in decline, particularly a number of bumblebee species.
To help bolster Wisconsin’s pollinators, scientists at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed the Wisconsin Pollinator Protection Plan, a document that provides information and recommendations designed to support pollinator populations around the state.
The plan offers practical advice for helping bees and other pollinators to a wide range of Wisconsin residents: homeowners and gardeners as well as farmers, land managers and others.
Read more at http://news.wisc.edu/uw-scientists-contribute-to-states-pollinator-protection-plan-effort/
