Bees are big business, an irreplaceable $15 billion economic resource that the government must protect using research, rooftop hives, and international cooperation. So says the committee tasked by President Barack Obama with promoting the health of all pollinator animals, as a vital part of our food system.

By releasing the Pollinator Research Action Plan Tuesday, President Obama gave credibility to the formerly niche issue of Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious worldwide decline in the honeybee population. He started down this road just by creating a task force to look at it a year ago.

The report identifies three goals for pollinator health: stem the global bee population loss, increase the number of monarch butterflies, and provide land for all pollinators to thrive.(For more on