Leave it to bees and butterflies to become a political thing at the Colorado Capitol. Last month, lawmakers proclaimed Interstate 76 across northeast Colorado a route that promotes pollinators.

Now Gov, John Hickenlooper has declared June in Colorado Pollinator’s Month, the first time flying insects have received such a statewide designation. (Apparently no one is that fond of the puppy-sized grasshoppers of Routt County.)

“This month we celebrate and honor the small but mighty bee, ” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “Bees, and other pollinators, are crucial for our ecosystem and the starting point of the food chain that serves countless species, including humans! The out-sized work of bees makes them truly fantastic creatures.”

Museums, libraries, businesses, nurseries and farmer’s markets across the state will put on educational programs and activities throughout the month to the raise the public profile of bees and butterflies,

Activities can be found by clicking here.

The Colorado Pollinators Highway – I-76 from Arvada to Nebraska – passed by the legislature last month calls on the Department of Transportation to accept gifts, grants or donations to put up signs and work with local governments to manage vegetation to help out honey bees and butterflies.

The People and Pollinators Action Network, the citizens group raising the insects’ political profile, said the state’s agriculture and flowering plants owe a debt to the bees and butterflies that distribute the pollen that makes it all possible.

The month also raises awareness that the pollinating species have been in decline.

“Colorado Pollinator Month is an opportunity to celebrate the animals that pollinate over 150 crops in the US and that are critical to overall ecosystem health by fertilizing a vast abundance of plants,” People and Pollinators Action Network said. “Raising the level of awareness in Colorado is critical in the fight to create, conserve and restore habitat.”

The organization says Colorado is host to more than 950 native species of bees, butterflies and other pollen-hauling bugs.

Honeybees, nationwide, are credited with adding more than $15 billion in free labor to agricultural each year, according to the organization.

“Among these stressors is habitat loss and fragmentation and a lack of availability of forage,” Beth Conrey of People and Pollinators Action Network and past president of the Colorado State Beekeepers Association, said in a statement.

“A diverse and thriving pollinator population supports agriculture and a diverse ecosystem and there are simple tools we can engage to expand pollinator habitat in Colorado.”

In a joint statement Jessica Goldstrohm and Amanda Accamando, co-Chairs of the education and outreach workgroup of the Colorado Pollinator Network, said, “We have a vision of increasing statewide awareness for pollinators during the month of June when pollinators can be readily seen and observed visiting flowers throughout the state.

“In partnership with various organizations, businesses, and local and federal agencies we are planning educational events across the state with a mission to forge connections between Coloradans and the diverse cast of pollinators that make our state colorful. We hope that increased awareness and understanding of pollinators will inspire Coloradans to make positive changes in their own yards and communities to support pollinator health and habitats.”