Nobody wants to hurt honeybees. Not only are they an important part of the environment, but as pollinators, they’re also essential to agriculture. I’ve heard that honeybees contribute to one out of every three bites of food that Americans take.

As a farmer, I am constantly looking for the right tools to protect the crops I grow, the environment and bees.

That’s why I was disappointed to read a recent warning from the Environmental Protection Agency that federal regulators probably won’t approve new varieties of a popular and important insecticide. The agency said it wants more time to gather data on how treatments of neonicotinoids — commonly known as "neonics" — affect honeybees.

A few days later, Lowe’s, the chain of home improvement stores,...