Target: Alysha Kaplan, President of Washington State Emergency Management Association
Goal: Incorporate coordinated responses for accidents involving honeybees into state’s emergency management plans.
Roughly 14 million bees spilled onto a Washington street after a truck carrying tens of thousands of pounds of honeybee hives turned over. The incident caused a frenzied and chaotic response involving first responders — many of whom were stung — as well as beekeepers who eventually helped bring the situation under control. While most of the bees were returned to their hives, many died as a result of the accident.
Such accidents are not unprecedented, as similar bee spills have happened as far away as Canada and even a few years prior in Washington itself. Honeybees – key pollinators in nature – face constant endangerment. In just U.S. commercial honeybee colonies, losses could claim up to 70 percent of colony populations in a year’s time. Incidents such as the one in Washington will only worsen the problem.
Beekeepers have called for a coordinated emergency bee response in Washington to prevent more losses. Sign the petition below to support this effort.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Ms. Kaplan,
“There needs to be a plan set in place so that when this does happen, we know what do.” The “this” in question refers to a recent accident in Lynden, Washington, that upended a truck carrying honeybee hives containing millions of bees – for the second time in a decade in Washington. First responders were injured in this incident, and countless bees also died. The president of the Washington State Beekeepers Association, who called for the aforementioned plan, summed it simply: “That’s a lot of bees that are just gone.”
Please heed this suggestion. The loss of these key pollinators is a danger to ecosystems and to the plant life that sustains all life. Moreover, deploying individuals who have no experience with living beings that can become lethal is a recipe for an even greater tragedy. Emergency bee response plans have proven effective in other states, such as Michigan. Coordinate with beekeeping experts and help save bee lives and human lives by creating and implementing a Washington emergency response plan before the next preventable crisis occurs.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: David Hablutzel
