Dear Next President,

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you on your presidency. As president it is your job to effectively handle the most dangerous tasks in America. That being said, what if I told you that everyone's life in America is at stake. A dangerous plague is killing off our last life source and our existence in this universe is on the line. We as a nation have to, will, must, save the bees from becoming extinct. They are dying at an alarming rate and very little is being done to prevent this horrific catastrophe.

While a tad over dramatic, hypothetically, if the bees were to go extinct, our lives would drastically change. According to BBC, bees are responsible for pollinating seventy percent of the food that feeds ninety percent of the nation's food. Without bees we wouldn't have any fruits or vegetables, our diets would consist of mainly grains: corns, rice and wheat. We would fail to achieve our required daily intake of vitamins and most of the country would fall dangerously weak. Not only that, but without bees the nation's economy would fail too, bees also pollinate cotton. Cotton is the nation's wealthiest cash crop and rakes in billions of dollars a year. We would have to kiss most of our favorite garments goodbye, as most of our clothing is made with cotton.

There are many causes to the endangerment of the bees. The first is the climate change, more specifically, global warming. The heat from global warming is causing the flowers to bloom earlier than usual, meaning the food needed after coming out of hibernation is already gone. The next problem is dangerous pesticides such as neonicotinoids are used to kill harmful parasites but are actually harming the pollinators too. A study done at the Harvard School of Public health found that neonicotinoids and other pesticides were directly contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD. CCD causes bees to spontaneously abandon their hives. Along with the chemicals humans are also a large factor as well. These factors include things such as “development, abandoned farms, growing crops without leaving habitat for wildlife and growing gardens with flowers that are not friendly to pollinators.” (NRDC) What may seem like a daunting task, there are many things you can do to help.

One option can be to setup an incentive program for farmers. This could include helping wild bee’s thrive, not using lethal pesticides and planting healthy crops year round for the bees. This would help with the vitality of bees everywhere and in return farmers would be given compensation for their contribution. However, the easiest but what could be the most effective technique is simply informing the public. Letting the nation know of the problem and the little things they can do to help will make them more inclined to do so. Simple things like using non-harmful products and being conscientious of their environment can go a long way.

Remember, bees are not just pesky insects, they are a primary ingredient element in the ecosystem. Therefore, I hope that you seriously consider what I have laid our for you, and I am extremely gracious that you took the time to read this.

Sincerely,

Max Bloomenstein