BERTHOUD, Colo. — A Colorado law limiting the sale of certain pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are known to kill pollinators, took effect on July 1.
Senate Bill 23-266 states only licensed retailers can sell neonicotinoids in Colorado, limiting the ability for homeowners to acquire the chemical.
State Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D, Boulder, Broomfield, and Weld Counties) was one of the sponsors of the legislation.
“Neonics are, even though the name sounds kind of quaint, they're very deadly to bees," said Jaquez Lewis. “We have many other choices to use for pesticides, so that's why we decided to have limited use designation for these neonics, the neonicotinoids.”
Jaquez Lewis said there is an exemption in the bill for agricultural use of neonicotinoids.
"Those folks are trained. They're certified applicators of pesticides," Jaquez Lewis explained. “The weekend warriors, folks that are out there spraying their gardens, getting ready for all their events outside, they won't have access to them unless they are trained applicators.”
The Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster does not have an official stance on the bill, but Amy Yarger, senior director of horticulture, described the science behind the pesticide.
“It's what we call a systemic pesticide, which means that it is something that suffuses throughout the tissues of a plant," said Yarger. “That's what a systemic chemical pesticide does, it's not just confined to where you apply it. It actually goes through the flowers and the roots and all like that... Pollinators, when they gather nectar and pollen, they are gathering part of the plant... If there are traces of chemicals in there, those will go with the pollinator wherever they're going.”
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports more than a third of the world's food crops depend on pollinators, totaling one out of every three bites of food. USDA researchers found that since 2007, some bee populations have fallen by more than 80%.
The American Beekeeping Federation reports honey bees contribute nearly $20 billion to the value of US crop production.
On an idyllic piece of property in Berthoud, Beth Conrey tends to her honey bees every day, as she has done for the last 25 years.
"I still learn something new every day, which is why I love it," Conrey said while wearing a full beekeeper suit and gently displaying one of her hives.
Conrey is concerned about the decline of bee populations.
“Environmental toxicity just means that the contamination load in the environment is much higher than it used to be, and bees just aren't living as long as a result," said Conrey.
The limitations on the sale of neonicotinoids are progress, Conrey said, especially since the pesticides are being used so widely that crops are becoming resistant.
“They're quite catastrophic, and the catastrophe is well documented at this point," said Conrey. “Insects and soil health are the cornerstones of our environment. And so, even if you hate bees, bees are really important.”
Conrey is also a member of the People and Pollinators Action Network (PPAN), which supported the legislation in 2023.
“I think education to go along with this new law is really important so that homeowners know that they shouldn't just switch from using one chemical to another, to think about what do we plant in our landscape to have greater biodiversity, so that we have an insurance policy against weeds and pests, which is typically what homeowners are trying to deal with," said Joyce Kennedy, executive director of PPAN. “If we plant lots of different kinds of native plants, we're going to have insurance against those pests and weeds.”
Kennedy said the new Colorado law is a step forward, but she wants to see more done to protect pollinators.
“We have a lot more to do. I just don't want people to be complacent that now there's this more limited-use category that this neonicotinoid sits in, but there's still going to be wide access, and if a dealer is licensed, they can still potentially sell it to anyone," Kennedy said. “I don't want to fool ourselves into thinking that we're done with dealing with this systemic insecticide because it is still used in so many different settings, and so we really need to think more holistically about how we're managing landscapes.”
