Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) isn’t sweet on a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop tracking the population of the nation’s honeybees.
USDA officials cited a budget shortfall this month when they announced the department would halt data collection for its annual Honey Bee Colonies report, which was launched in 2015 amid a troubling worldwide decline in bee populations.
Schumer on Sunday demanded the feds reverse the decision, and said he would use an upcoming federal appropriations bill to pay for the population count if USDA officials do not change course.
“Our beehives throughout New York and throughout the country are in decline,” Schumer said at a news conference near a set of hives in Bryant Park. “We need the data because it lets us connect the dots to try to find out why the bees are dying off."
A 2017 report from the USDA showed the number of active honeybee colonies plummeted from more than 6 million in the 1940s to roughly 2.5 million in 2017.
Manhattan alone is home to more than 100 rooftop beehives, which help pollinate the city’s plant life. Schumer pointed out that agriculture in New York State is a $1.2 billion industry that depends on bees.
The senator said the USDA’s decision to stop counting the pollinators was announced quietly, and suggested that corruption may be afoot.
“There’s great speculation that this [falling bee populations] is done by pesticides,” said Schumer. “Maybe the pesticides industry went to the USDA and got them to quietly kill the survey.”
Representatives from the USDA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Andrew Coté, head of the New York City Beekeepers Association and founder of local honey producer Andrew’s Honey, said it’s vital for the government to keep track of bee populations.
“Farming in New York State is a tough enough job without the under-the-radar regulations making it even harder to eke out a living,” Coté said.