Effort To Save Georgia Honeybees Moves To License Plates

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Georgia's Bee Association is attempting to raise money to save bees by selling a new license plate. / Georgia Bee Association

An effort to save honey bees across Georgia has moved to the back of cars. No, not mobile beehives, but license plates.  

The plates feature a picture of the flying insect and the word bee in all caps.

It's the latest effort by the Georgia Beekeepers Association to increase education about the importance of the pollinator. Since issuing the plate last June, they association has sold almost 1,000, which is how many they needed to sell to break even on costs.

Linda Tillman, the GBA’s president, said a lot of bees are dying off due to mosquito spray and pesticides used on the weeds they eat.   

"People are trying to address that in many ways,” Tillman said. “But there's not an effective solution at the moment and so the honey bee is in jeopardy even though it still looks like things are relatively OK."  

The plate sells for $25 and the Beekeepers keep $22.

She said the money raised will be used to increase education efforts about what the bee means for the produce available in grocery stores and how bees affect other aspects of life.