The rusty patched bumblebee is the Minnesota state bee. It’s a fuzzy bee with a rust-colored abdomen, thus the name. A social bee (not solitary) that needs flowering plants from early spring through fall, the rusty patched bumblebee also needs quality nesting spots underground and a good place for the queens to “overwinter.”
Our state bee isn’t faring well, although it once was common in Minnesota. It has disappeared from 87% of its historic range across the U.S. and is now listed as “endangered,” meaning it needs the protections of the Endangered Species Act.
Pesticides and other threats
Along with habitat loss, disease and a changing climate, pesticides are killing bees. The rusty patched bee’s decline coincides with the introduction of a class of insecticides called neonics, which came onto the scene in the 1990s. The practice of coating neonics on seeds became common in the 2000s, and its usage soared.
Today, at least 80% of corn and 40% of soybeans in the U.S. are coated with neonics. After a seed is planted, neonics spread throughout the growing plant – the stalk, leaves, flowers, tassels. Plus, 95% of the chemical doesn’t stay put, leaching into the soil, dust and groundwater.
These pesticides can kill bees outright, and sublethal doses cause damage to the brains of young bees, disorient them and weaken their immune systems.
While the rusty patched bumblebee is the Minnesota state bee, there are more than 500 native bees that call Minnesota home. Many species are struggling, in Minnesota and throughout the country. Today, 1 in 4 bumblebee species across America are vulnerable to extinction.
Bad for more than bees
In addition to the decline in bees, a recent study found that pesticides, and in particular neonics, are the major reason for the decline in butterfly populations during the time period of the study (1998-2014).
Case in point is the monarch. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to add the monarch butterfly to the endangered species list. Eastern monarchs have declined by more than 80% since 1980 and western monarchs have declined by about 90%.
Birds, too, are harmed. A single seed is laced with enough of the neonic chemical to kill a songbird.
These chemicals are nearly everywhere
These pesticides are found nearly everywhere in Minnesota. For example, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources tested the spleens of hunter-killed white-tailed deer in 2022 and found neonics in 94% of them — a percentage that’s way up from 61% two years earlier.
Neonics are in waterways, too. Waters tested by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture found that nearly all of them (95%) contained neonics.
What if the bee-killing pesticides aren’t helping?
It’s one thing if neonics kill bees but greatly increase the bounty from America’s farms. But what if the benefits are marginal at best? Then we would be in a situation where farmers pay more for coated seeds, the seeds decimate pollinators that are needed for many crops, and the anticipated bounty doesn’t come.
That’s not a hypothetical. Cornell research has found that in more than 85% of cases, there is no increase in production when neonic seeds are used.
Hold the neonics, please
We can do better than this. Here are tips to make your lawns and gardens better for bees. Additionally, farmers can attempt to skip the neonic-coated seeds, but it’s not easy to find corn seeds that aren’t coated with neonics. Plus, farmers may not know that the pesticide is on the seeds they purchase.
So in addition to individual actions, we need action from decision makers. Minnesota should follow the lead of other states and restrict the use of seeds coated with these bee-killing chemicals.
Ideally, when farmers have a legitimate and verified need for neonics, they would be able to use seeds coated with the stuff. But what should stop is the use of neonic-coated seeds, irrespective of whether there’s a pest problem.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited and others filed a petition calling on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to limit neonics. We hope the agency listens. Last session, state lawmakers filed bills on the issue. Those bills need to make it to the finish line this year.
For the sake of Minnesota’s pollinators and other wildlife, it’s time to limit bee-killing pesticides.
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Steve directs Environment America’s efforts to protect our public lands and waters and the species that depend on them. He led our successful campaign to win full and permanent funding for our nation’s best conservation and recreation program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund. He previously oversaw U.S. PIRG’s public health campaigns. Steve lives in Sacramento, California, with his family, where he enjoys biking and exploring Northern California.
