President Barack Obama and his administration are planning to come up with a new plan to help increase the population of honey bees and other pollinators in the US.

President Barack Obama and his administration are discussing a new plan to help increase the population of honey bees and other pollinators in the US.

The Obama administration on May 19 announced a program called ‘the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators’.

As per the 64-page document released by the white house, the three main aims as listed by the strategy include the goal to reduce honey bee-colony losses to not more than 15% in the next 10 years.

The second goal listed in the strategy included increasing the population of eastern monarch butterflies to about 225 million by 2020 and restore or enhance seven million acres of land for pollinators over the next five years.

William Kern, a UF professor in urban entomology at Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, said according to him the land that has been set aside for pollinators will most likely be beneficial.

He said about 30% of the bee colonies are lost during the winters, but higher loss is caused due to shift in the management.

Kern stated that over the past five years, the number of honey bee-colony have remained consistent. Beekeepers have changed their management style therefore they are managing bees to have more colonies.

Showing his concerns for the plans he said that the plans appear to be too ambitious. He said there are many other causes of honey bee deaths part from land loss, like deadly parasites, deadly viruses, poor nutrition and poor management from the farmer.

Chappie McChesney, founder of Alachua County Beekeepers Club, said the plan is too little, and now it is too late.

“The government is mainly focusing on commercial bees. Local farmers won’t benefit from such a plan”, McChesney said.