Iowa beekeepers are supporting a bill that would make honeybee the state insect. Iowa and Michigan are the only two states that don't have a state insect.
Eastern Iowa beekeeper Bob Wolff is a fan of a proposal Wolff tells KCRG-TV 9 bees are having a tough time surviving.
According to the Iowa Honey Producers Associations, beekeepers lost 50% of their hives last year. They say beekeepers are feeling the sting as they struggle to replace their losses.
Wolff takes care of bees at the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids and says making the honeybee the state insect would make it easier to protect them.
"They feel some pressure from the communities and populations in Iowa to start enacting some laws, some helpful beneficial laws that we can work together with the AG industry in order to fulfill their needs and our needs,” Wolff tells KCRG-TV 9.
Wolff also points out bees are big pollinators and if they are not around, the price of produce would go up.
"Prices in the grocery stores would go up for their peaches, pears, plums, grapefruits,” Wolff says. “You name any type of the pollinators, cucumbers, red or green peppers.”
Iowa has more than 45,000 bee colonies. The bill made it out of a Senate committee last week.