As the weather gets cooler, they may not be as visible outside, but New Mexico is home to a host of pollinators.

They include more than 1,000 types of bees, more than 300 types of butterflies, some 18 types of hummingbirds and two to three types of flower-visiting bats, not to mention moths, beetles and other pollen-carrying insects.

Pollinators are essential to New Mexico, prompting the state Legislature to call for a pollinator protection plan amid declining populations and an increase in hobbyist beekeepers who face no registration requirements and don't always know what they're doing.

Unlike some of the pollinators, though, the plan is slow going.

A memorial passed by the Legislature last year called for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to convene a working group to develop

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