ASSEMBLY AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2994

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 18, 2023

      The Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2994.

      This bill designates the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) as the New Jersey State Native Pollinator.  The Common Eastern Bumble Bee, found across New Jersey in urban and rural areas, is native to the State.  As generalist pollinators, they are an essential part of the State’s pollinator communities by gathering pollen and nectar from a wide variety of flowering plants.  Bumble bees are important to New Jersey’s working farms as key pollinators of blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes and peppers.  Pollinators are also vital to the health of diverse ecosystems, because the fruits and seeds derived from insect pollination are a major part of the diet of all birds and mammals, including over 30 percent of the foods and beverages that humans consume.  The benefits that native pollinators provide to New Jersey have been documented through extensive research at Rutgers, the State University, and other institutions of higher learning.