Struggling bee populations may seem like a small problem, but between one-third and 90 percent of the commercial food supply relies on honeybee pollination. Lose our bees, lose our next meal.

For the third year in a row, more than one-third of U.S. bee colonies have not survived the winter. The Society for Invertebrate Conservation and University of California at Davis entomologist Robbin Thorp petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Franklin's bumblebee under the Endangered Species Act. They hope to list other bee species, too, but decided to start with the Franklin's bumblebee because of its well-documented decline: Thorp found 94 Franklin's bumblebees in 1994, but he's seen none since 2006.

Bees are an integral part of our ecosystem and our food system. Urge the U.S. government to grant protection to the little guys before their demise has a big impact on our future.

Photo credit: cygnus921