INDIANAPOLIS (Indiana News Service): New tests found significant decreases in the use of bee-killing pesticides on “bee-friendly” plants. That’s good news for bees.

Friends of the Earth and the Pesticide Research Institute took samples of plants in 13 U.S. cities and compared them to samples taken in 2013 and 2014. They were looking for neonicotinoid insecticides in plants often sold to gardeners and home owners.

In the previous tests, half of the plants tested positive for the toxins. This time, only 23 percent did. Tiffany Finck-Haynes, food futures campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said retailers are starting to sell “bee-friendly” plants.

“Almost 70 retailers across the U.S. have made commitments to stop selling plants – and in some cases, products – that contain bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides,” Finck-Haynes said. “And so that’s what’s really shifting the entire garden industry.”

Bee populations have been dwindling across the nation. A Purdue University study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed what many environmental groups have been saying: the massive beehive die-offs known as “colony collapse disorder” are linked, in part, to factory farms and pesticide use; and plants pre-treated with neonicotinoids pass the toxins on to bees.

Bee losses have to stop, Finck-Haynes said. But some retailers are still selling plants pre-treated with pesticides. She said she hopes consumers will put pressure on those companies.

A list of retailers’ and growers’ policies on pesticide use is available here.