1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my outrage and deep concern over plans to shut down or weaken federal bee research programs, including the USDA’s Beltsville Bee Research Lab. This is unacceptable and incredibly reckless. At a time when the United States is already facing massive honeybee colony losses, disease outbreaks, pesticide resistant mites, and growing threats to pollinators, dismantling one of the nation’s leading bee research centers is not just irresponsible, it threatens our food system itself. Bees are essential to American agriculture. Pollinators support more than 100 crops and contribute billions of dollars to food production every year. Farmers, beekeepers, and researchers depend on these federal labs for disease diagnostics, emergency response, scientific guidance, and long term agricultural stability. According to recent reporting, USDA scientists helped identify the likely cause of catastrophic bee die offs after approximately 1.6 million colonies collapsed between 2024 and 2025. Yet instead of strengthening this research infrastructure, the administration is moving to dismantle it and drive out experienced scientists and staff. This is part of a broader and deeply dangerous pattern of weakening federal expertise, hollowing out scientific agencies, and treating public institutions as disposable. Russell Vought and others pushing these policies claim they are making government more efficient, but in reality they are making America weaker, less prepared, and more vulnerable to preventable crises. You cannot support American farmers and simultaneously destroy the research systems that protect agriculture. I urge you to publicly oppose these closures, defend federal scientific research, protect USDA and USGS pollinator programs, and investigate the long term consequences these cuts will have on agriculture, food security, and environmental stability. The American people deserve leadership that strengthens our institutions instead of dismantling them piece by piece.