Remember, Republicans know this to be the case when they're crying about "activist judges". They know full well what the law is.
They're lying freely not because they believe what they're saying, but because they need what they're saying to be true in order to justify what they're planning.
Bees live less than two months, so if 80% of bees died in the last 8 months that would suggest a sharp recent increase. And even if you take it as read that it means bees dying and not being replaced, 8 months is still a terrible timeframe to use because it's literally saying "there are 80% fewer bees now, at the tail end of winter, than there were at the height of bee season".
I'm not saying there isn't a bee crisis, just that this factoid is very badly worded.