Bayer CropScience Celebrates National Pollinator Week with Feed a Bee Partners

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., June 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Honey bees, one of modern agriculture's most valuable partners, are threatened by a variety of stressors from Varroa mites to weather to habitat loss. Earlier this year, Bayer CropScience launched its Feed a Bee initiative to help increase forage areas for honey bees and other pollinators, and to date, nearly 200,000 people have pledged to plant 50 million flowers in the U.S. through the initiative.

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Increasing forage habitat for bees was also a major theme of the President's recently released Pollinator Task Force strategy, which urged greater public-private partnerships to make this happen. Throughout the remainder of the year, Feed a Bee will partner with business, government and nonprofit organizations across the country to plant thousands of acres of flower-producing crops and other bee-attractant plants for bee habitats.

"Honey bees and other pollinators are working harder than ever, and they need more food and more food diversity to thrive," said Dr. Becky Langer, manager of the North American Bee Care Program. "We are excited to bring together partners from all sectors to help increase forage for these hardworking insects."

Bayer CropScience is excited to celebrate National Pollinator Week this year by announcing the addition of several partners to the Feed a Bee initiative, including:

• Alamance County and Caswell County Beekeepers Associations (North Carolina)
• American Agri-Women (Barre, Vermont)
• Anson County Beekeepers Association (Wadesboro, North Carolina)
• Bee Happy Apiaries (Vacaville, CA)
• Bennett Orchards (Frankford, Delaware)
• Ceja Farm (Abingdon, Illinois)
• Central East Ag Supply Inc. (Rocky Mount, North Carolina)
• Davis Family Farms (Greensburg, Kentucky)
• Don Currier (Nashville, Georgia)
• Donahue Sportsman Conservation Club (Donahue, Iowa)
• Durham County Master Gardeners (Durham, North Carolina)
• Ernst Conservation Seeds (Meadville, Pennsylvania)
• Half Hill Crown Orchard (McDonald, Pennsylvania)
• Hermann Hills Apiaries (Hermann, Missouri)
• Jonathan T. Garaas (West Fargo, North Dakota)
• Milwaukee Waukesha Beekeepers Association (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Mosaic Life Care (St. Joseph, Missouri)
• The Mosquito Guard (Charlotte, North Carolina)
• Salem4Youth (Flanagan, Illinois)
• University of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.)
• Vitamin Bee (Los Angeles, California)
• Walter P. Rawl and Sons, Inc. (Pelion, South Carolina)

Several Feed a Bee partners, including McCarty Family Farms, Project Apis m., the National Wild Turkey Federation and the North Carolina Department of Transportation, already have their plantings underway. With the added support of these partners, the initiative will be able to contribute even more acres in nearly every region of the U.S.

Collaborations with these businesses, government entities, private growers and other organizations as Feed a Bee partners will help ensure even more acres are devoted to providing bees with the nectar and pollen they need to support healthy hives.

Bayer's joint efforts with its Feed a Bee partners are a part of its commitment to protect and improve pollinator health. For more information on Bayer's bee health initiatives, please visit: beehealth.bayer.us. You can also follow and share with us on Twitter @BayerBeeCare, on Facebook at facebook.com/BayerBeeCareCenter and view photos on Flickr.

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Bayer CropScience is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer CropScience representative, or visit Bayer CropScience online at www.bayercropscience.us.

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About Bayer CropScience

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 9,494 million (2014) and is one of the world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 22,400 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.

Find more information at www.bayercropscience.us.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at http://www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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SOURCE Bayer CropScience

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