[Update 2/10/24:] Del. Hope's bill cleared the House of Delegates on a 98-0 vote and currently is in the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology.
[Original article, Jan. 11:]
If a local member of the General Assembly gets his way, the noble and environmentally vital European honeybee will be named Virginia’s official state pollinator.
Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) has introduced HB 517, which will add the honeybee (Apis mellifera) to the roster of the Old Dominion’s official this-and-thats.
If the bill makes it into law, the honeybee will join the likes of the American foxhound (Virginia’s official dog), Northern cardinal (bird), Eastern garter snake (snake), American dogwood (tree), Chincoteague pony (pony), tiger swallowtail butterfly (insect), brook trout (freshwater fish) and striped bass (saltwater fish).
