Dear Governor Cuomo, Temporary President and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie, and Chairmen Kaminsky and Englebright:
 
This is too risky to leave unaddressed. Bees die when we spray crops or treat seeds with neonics. $1.2 billion of our State’s agricultural products depend on bees and other pollinators. Please reintroduce The Birds and the Bees Protection Act to halt the outdoor use of neonics for 5 years so that we can study them more carefully in order to best protect our pollinators and agricultural economy.
 
Thank You!

Dear New York State Residents & Voters,
 
BEES ARE IMPORTANT: We rely on bees and other pollinators to transfer genetic material on plants so they can produce the food we eat: berries (breakfast!), pumpkins (Halloween!), apples (pie!), cabbage, almonds, grapes (wine!), honey and more. According to the United Nations, 100 crops feed 90% of the world's population and 71 of those crops rely on bees and other pollinators. New York State estimates that $1.2 BILLION of its crops are pollinator-dependent!

A BIG THREAT FACING BEES: A common class of pesticides, called NEONICS, confuse bees and cause entire hives to DIE. (Other pest control options are effective and available.)

WHO WE ARE: Catskill Mountain Honey established the first ever CSB (Community Supported Bees) where members invest a small amount up front, a team of beekeepers tend the bees and then everyone shares the honey at harvest time (like a CSA). The CSB is all about the bees, the environment and the honey. It is a model of excellence in beekeeping, community involvement and education. The CSB is committed to action that preserves and repopulates honeybees. 

YOUR SIGNATURE MATTERS: Whether you care deeply about the environment or love honey on your toast, you can make a real difference for BEES by signing this petition. Your simple action will encourage New York State's Legislature and Governor's office to REINTRODUCE the BIRDS AND THE BEES PROTECTION ACT which would put a five-year ban on outdoor uses of NEONICS that are harmful to our bees and other pollinators and hurt New York State's agricultural economy ($4.3 BILLION in annual revenue), while the state studies the impacts of their use. With our collective efforts to let New York's lawmakers know how important this is to us, I am sure that they will reintroduce this important bill to protect birds, bees and other pollinators, but we have to ACT NOW.

A ONE-TWO PUNCH: Once we are successful on the Act’s reintroduction (and we will be), we will then need to get the legislature to vote for it in this legislative session (stay tuned). It's a two-step process, but together we can get this done! Let's do step ONE now and BAN NEONICS to SAVE THE BEES!