The Honey Nut Cheerios Box Is Changing For A Disturbing Reason

The next time that you pick up a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, you'll notice a very important thing missing. No, not the toys, they've never been in this particular cereal. Look closer. BuzzBee, the lovable bee mascot, is gone. General Mills announced that Honey Nut Cheerios boxes will be without the recognizable mascot — and it's to draw attention to a very important issue: pollinator populations.

According to Greenpeace's Save The Bees campaign, "two thirds of the crops used to feed people, accounting for 90% of the world's nutrition, are pollinated by bees." But as important as they are, the environmental organization reports that bees and pollinators — like BuzzBee — are disappearing. That's why the special #BringBackTheBees Honey Nut Cheerios box will hit shelves without its famous mascot.

"As a General Mills cereal built around nutrition, helping pollinators get the key nutrition they need through fun, family-friendly activities like planting wildflowers is a natural fit," Susanne Prucha, director of marketing for Cheerios, said. "Our commitment to increasing the habitat for pollinators is one way we are continuously striving to be a company that not only makes products people love, but a company that pursues creative solutions to make our world a better place for all families."

General Mills is teaming with Vesey's Seeds to plant wildflowers all over the country so that BuzzBee and his bee pals can have plenty of lands and open space to do their job: pollinate. It makes sense, too, because about 30% of the ingredients in General Mills' products (cereals and snacks alike) rely on pollinators. Honey Nut Cheerios has pledged that by 2020, oat farms that supply General Mills will set aside 3,300 acres of land dedicated to pollinators. Past efforts to preserve land for bees and pollinators have doubled the pollinator population and with this new initiative, the cereal giant hopes to bring bees back — and its beloved mascot, too.