Many of our most beloved fresh food crops, as well as crops used for livestock forage, biofuels, and fibers–depend on pollinators to bear fruit. Pollinators are essential to our natural ecosystems, responsible for the reproduction of over 85 percent of the world’s flowering plants. As such, pollination services are central to the conversation about global food production, nutritional security, and our overall wellbeing. This Earth Day, we focus our attention on bees – and in particular honey bees, Apis mellifera - the world’s most important pollinator for commercial agriculture production. We look at the many public and private initiatives underway worldwide to protect pollinator populations and preserve our planet.