Editor,

Aug. 19 is National Honey Bee Day, a day to celebrate one of the most important and widespread pollinators of our food and flowers. And we need to do more to protect honey bees and all of our pollinators.

Honey bees pollinate many of the foods we eat, from blueberries to almonds. In Washington, beloved foods such as cherries and apples are pollinated by honey bees. Unfortunately, millions of honey bees are dying off due to neonicotinoids, a pesticide extremely lethal to bees. Without honey bees, there will be big consequences for our environment and our food supply: no honey bees means no food.

This summer, you can celebrate National Honey Bee Day and help protect bees by hosting a bee friendly Bee-Bee-Q or picnic. It’s the perfect way to end summer — join with friends and family to enjoy delicious foods, cook with recipes shared by chefs from our Bee Friendly Food Alliance and made possible by bee pollination, all while helping to save the honey bees. For more information, email beefriendlyfood@environmentamerica.org

Saumya Shruti

Environment Washington