Dear Future President:

Did you know that the United States population consumes 410 million pounds of honey a year, as of 2010 (Sweet Mountain Farm). This will decrease as the years carry on , all due to the endangerment of the ones making it, the bees. Bees are now on our list of endangered species. The small but helpful little insects have seen a decline in their population since the 1990s, due to climate change, pesticides, and loss of habitat (Green Peace). Bees habitats have been torn down as our population grows. A bee has a main hive, and that's where they thrive, but due to us, they’ve either been forced from their homes, or are too stressed to do anything.

“Bees help make over 30% of our food and over 90% of our wild life. Without bees, we would see a decline of produce. Like apples,celery,cherries,onions,cashews,avocados,and peaches (Jennifer Sass).”

The list goes on and on and that's just produce! Bees are the pollinators of our ecosystem. They carry pollen from one plant to another, making those plants grow and become something us humans can eat. We just don’t use them for their amazing pollination skills, but as well as their honey. Honey is a natural sweetener which is why is mostly preferred, but with the decrease in population, the honey industry has seen a drop in production. Without honey, you’d see a decrease in items that use it. Like certain drinks, and foods.

In my opinion, we need to help our little friends in the best way possible. To do so, we can cut back on selling honey. If you do feel the need to have honey though, buy locally produced honey. We can also make more bee farms, even though it's not as easy as it sounds, we should start finding locations that are warm, and can produce a variety of bee friendly plants. If we don’t , we’d watch the once vast plains become a shriveled wasteland. What the bees are doing for us isn't just a small favor. We rely on bees , even though they can sting us time to time. Though there have been some things that have happened to try and save them. Their population is still decreasing, and they’re still on the brink of extinction.

Sincerely,

Cheyenne Hanke