House Bill 91, which will prevent the sale or distribution of neonicitinoid coated soy, corn, and wheat seeds in Maryland, is currently before the House of Delegates. Beekeepers have been fighting the use of these pesticides for many years, and the bill is an effort to stem another channel by which they get into the fields and farms pollinated by our bees.

Other lobbying groups disagree, and the bill needs your support to pass.

Please consider emailing your Delegate and your State Senator to be sure that they know your support for the bill and for the health of your bees.

You can find your state representatives on the Maryland.gov website.

Here is a sample email that you can use:

SUBJECT: Support HB 91 — Agriculture – Neonicotinoid Pesticides – Prohibitions

A bill currently before the Maryland House of

Dear Delegate [INSERT THEIR LAST NAME]:

I am a constituent from [INSERT YOUR CITY, ZIPCODE] and a Maryland honey beekeeper. I am writing to urge you to support HB 91 — Agriculture – Neonicotinoid Pesticides – Prohibitions.

As a beekeeper, I see firsthand how difficult it has become to keep colonies healthy. My colonies are well managed and treated appropriately for mites and disease. However, honey bees collect pollen and nectar up to five miles from their hive, so I cannot protect them from exposure to systemic neonicotinoid pesticides legally applied to fields and ornamental plants. Only you can do that by supporting HB91.

There is no way, even for professional applicators, to contain neonicotinoids to the intended crop. They spread to wildflowers as windborne dust and rain runoff, making those flowering plants unsafe for pollinators. These pesticides also remain active for months, even years.

Healthy pollinators are not just important to beekeepers; they are essential to Maryland’s farmers, food system, and ecosystems. Protecting them supports crop productivity, biodiversity, and long-term agricultural resilience across the state.

HB91 lets the Secretary of Agriculture address genuine pest emergencies, while encouraging approaches that protect both crops and the pollinators farmers ultimately depend on.

For these reasons, I respectfully ask you to vote yes on HB91. Thank you for your service and for considering the perspective of those of us working directly with pollinators every day.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR PHONE]
[YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS] 
Member Maryland State Beekeepers Association
Member: YOUR LOCAL ASSOCATION

[Return to February 2026 Beeline newsletter]