Pollinators

Pollination services from honey bees and other insects provide the backbone to ensuring our diets are diverse and plentiful with fruits, nuts, and vegetables. In all, there are over 100 crops grown in the United States that depend on pollination. USDA supports the critical role pollinators play in agriculture through research and data collections, diagnostic services and pollinator health monitoring, pollinator habitat enhancement programs, and pollinator health grants.

USDA Pollinator Offices and Initiatives

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) conducts a monthly National Honey Report, which collects prices paid of extracted and unprocessed honey, price by honey type, primary nectar source visited, and estimates the export and import of honey with major trading partners.

Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) safeguards honey bees against the entry, establishment, and spread of economically and environmentally significant pests, and facilitates the safe trade of agricultural product. Information on the National Honey Bee Pests and Diseases Survey, Exotic Bee and Bee Mite ID guides, outreach videos on the parasitic Varroa mite and introductions to beekeeping can be found at this site.

• Identification Technology Program

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Laboratories are located across the country. These labs look at a wide range of issues that impact bee health. The primary labs include:

• Beltsville, Maryland Bee Lab focuses on a wide range of bee pests and diseases, and offers a free Bee Disease Diagnosis Service of pests and diseases for beekeepers across the United States.
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana Bee Lab focuses on honey bee breeding, genetics, and physiology research.
• Logan, Utah Bee Lab studies the biology, management, and systematics of pollinating insects.
• Tucson, Arizona Bee Lab focuses on improved nutrition and Varroa control.

USDA Climate Hubs develop and deliver science-based information and technologies to natural resource and agricultural managers, enabling climate-informed decision making, reducing agricultural risk, and building resilience to climate change. Some examples of how the Climate Hubs support pollinators and their stakeholders include collaborative research and outreach on soil health practices that support pollinator forage and habitat, research on how climate may impact the pollination of pollinator-dependent crops, and adaptation guides to support beekeepers’ resilience to hurricanes.

Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which implements long-term rental contracts with growers to voluntarily remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production, and to plant species that will improve environmental health and quality, such as for pollinator and wildlife habitat. Further, it administers the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) program which provides financial assistance to eligible producers of honey bees due to eligible adverse weather events and loss conditions events. ELAP assistance is provided for losses not covered by other disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

National Agricultural Library (NAL) is a source for a variety of agricultural resources devoted to pollinators and honey bees.

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts statistically based surveys of beekeepers, including the Bee and Honey Inquiry Survey and the Colony Loss Survey.

National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides grants to universities, including Land-Grant institutions, to address high priority pollinator research. They also work to provide funding to U.S. Land-Grant institutions and counties through the Cooperative Extension System to conduct information and technology transfer to stakeholders on pollinator health.

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers more than three dozen conservation practices that can benefit pollinators. Although many of these practices target improving grazing lands or reducing soil erosion, small modifications to the practices can yield benefits to pollinator species. The shared link provides an overview of NRCS conservation work for pollinators and pollinator conservation and habitat enhancement resources.

Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP) analyses policy questions that address questions related to the interface of crop pest management and pollinator health and works closely with the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistic Service on data collections to better understand pollinator Best Management Practices. The link provides an exhaustive summary of crops that are attractive and/or pollinated by both honey bees and other bees in the United States.

Risk Management Agency (RMA) administers the Apiculture Pilot Insurance Program (API) to provide a safety net for beekeepers’ primary income sources – honey, pollen collection, wax, and breeding stock. Additionally, RMA manages the Apiculture Rainfall Index (RI), which insurance programs utilize as an indexing system to assess plant growth and vigor, which correlates to honey production.

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is highly engaged in the protection of pollinators via sound management of and research to support managed lands. This link provides information on topics such as pollination, plant pollination strategies, types of pollinators, pollinator friendly practices, and gardening for pollinators.

External Federal Pollinator Partners

Department of Defense Pollinator Page

Department of Energy Pollinator Protection Initiative

Department of Transportation Pollinator Page

National Park Service Pollinator Page

U.S. Bureau of Land Management Pollinator Page

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Pollinator Page

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pollinator Page

U.S. Geological Survey, Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab

E-Extension Bee Health Community

Bee Health Collective