COLUMBUS – Ohio farmers rely on bees to pollinate more than 70 crops, but 50 to 80 percent of the
honeybees raised by Ohio’s registered beekeepers died last winter. Researchers suggest a number of
reasons for this phenomenon, including the loss of the flowering habitat bees need to strengthen and
grow their colonies.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture agency responsible for
helping landowners protect their farms and forests, now has a program to increase honeybee habitat.
Called the Honeybee Pollinator Environmental Quality Incentives Program, this program will allow NRCS to
design honeybee friendly habitat with landowners, plus help them cover some of the cost of creating it.

Agricultural producers with cropland, pastureland, forestland, and farmsteads in 24 Ohio counties
including Wood and its neighboring counties, can apply for the Pollinator EQIP: Farmers can create
flowering habitat without taking a whole field out of crop production by planting borders around fields
or along streams, planting flowering trees, or mixing flowering plants into pastures. NRCS recommends
using flowering plants native to Ohio, such as pasture rose, Canadian milk vetch, slender bush-clover,
and many others. The phone number for the Wood County office is 419-352-5172.
Visit the NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov for information on pollinators, their habitat, and how you
can help on your farm or in your backyard.