CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon drivers can soon showcase their love for pollinators with a new state license plate featuring a honey bee, a native bumble bee and hives in a field of clover.

Oregon State University’s Horticulture Department has started taking pre-orders on its newly designed “pollinator paradise” license plate, which aims to celebrate the more than 600 bee species in the state.

If OSU sells 3,000 license plate vouchers, the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV, will begin official production of the new plates.

“I think it’s a big deal,” said Sarah Kincaid, faculty research assistant in OSU’s Horticulture Department. “In a state like Oregon where so many people are passionate about bees, we should have a license plate celebrating that. With its abundance of native bees, Oregon should, too.”

Ordering a plate voucher will cost drivers $40, and for each sale, $35 will go to support bee research conducted by OSU’s Extension Pollinator Health Lab and Honey Bee Lab programs.

Funds will directly support the identification of bee species throughout the Pacific Northwest and research into how to keep honey bee stocks healthy. Revenue from license plate sales may also support graduate students doing bee research at OSU.

Marek Stanton, 16, from Eagle Rock, designed the license plate.

Stanton is the youngest member of OSU Extension Service’s “Master Melittologist” program. A melittologist studies bees, and OSU’s program, modeled after its Master Gardener program, trains volunteers to become bee experts and use that knowledge to catalog and preserve bees native to the state.

Stanton worked with Andony Melathopoulos, OSU Extension’s pollinator health expert, and Kincaid, the research assistant, on the inspiration behind his drawing.

The plate features a field of red clover, green mountains and blue sky as the backdrop. In the foreground, the honey bee and bumble bee represent managed and native species of bees.

To buy a voucher for a new Pollinator Plate, go to https://bit.ly/3GYOPCd