Save the Bees—Sign the Petition!

This month, my blog has focused on the devastating decline of bees in our country. The important little pollinators have continued to die off in great numbers. In 2013 alone, U.S. beekeepers lost an average of 45 percent of what was left of their colonies. In Iowa, 70 percent of the bee population was too sick to survive the winter. And the nation’s hives are now producing 85 percent fewer queens.

What do all those numbers mean to you and me? Plenty. Almost one-third of the food we eat depends on bee pollination, so the ongoing colony collapse disorder means that our food supply is at risk.

Now for the good news: Congress is currently considering the “Saving America’s Pollinators Act,” which would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend use of the pesticides belonging to the neonicotinoids class  until their safety can be determined. (Click here for a list of products that contains them.) The EPA would also be tasked with monitoring the country’s bee population.

Want to get involved? SierraRising—an environmental advocacy voice of the Sierra Club—and Food and Water Watch—which ensures that the food, water, and fish we consume is safe, accessible, and sustainable—have teamed up to create an online petition you can sign and send to Congress along with your comments. 

You can also plan this summer’s garden with bee-friendly plants in mind, like these:

• American plum
• Blanket flower
• Chokecherry
• Clasping cornflower
• Daisy fleabane
• Foxglove bearded tongue
• Golden currant
• Prairie rose
• Rosemary
• Western yarrow

Bee Backers Swarm Pesticide-Selling Stores

I recently heard about a group of folks in Minnesota who are as concerned about the decline of the honeybee as anyone (click here to read the story). They gathered on a frigid morning at a local Home Depot, carrying signs and wearing antennae and black and yellow stripes. Their goal? To urge the garden center to stop selling pesticides suspected of harming bees.

It’s all part of a nation-wide movement to restore the population of honey bees to its pre-2006 level. Since that year, the bee population has declined annually—a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder.

Researchers are making the case that there may be a link between certain pesticides and the dwindling colonies. Known as neonicotinoid pesticides, the products are applied directly to the soil and taken up into the plant. While they don’t kill bees directly, they interfere with bees’ ability to search for nectar and find their way back to their hives.

The folks gathered outside their neighborhood garden center are hoping that large national chains will take the bold step of removing neonicotinoids from their shelves.

If you’d like to avoid buying these products, check the label for the list of active ingredients. If one of these is listed, the pesticide contains neonicotinoids: Acetamiprid, Clothianidin, Dinotefuran, Imidacloprid, Nitenpyram, Thiocloprid, Thiamethoxam.

All We Are Saying…Is Give Bees a Chance!

By now, you’ve probably heard about the decline of the honeybee—those little buzzing pollinators that are responsible for producing billions of dollars’ worth of our nation’s fruits and vegetables. Colony collapse disorder, as the phenomenon is known, happens when worker bees abruptly vanish from their colonies. In North America, the disappearance began in 2006, and commercial beekeepers have lost an average of one-third of their bees every year since.

The reason for the bees’ disappearance is unknown, although many theories abound. Possible causes include parasites, infection, and exposure to insecticide. Researchers also assume that the loss of uncultivated fields—that once were home to a variety of pollen-rich plants—have left bees undernourished and less resilient to disease.

In response to the drastic dwindling of this species that is relied upon so heavily for food production, the federal government is putting $3 million into a program that will support the regrowth of honeybee colonies. Farmers are being encouraged to plant bee-friendly shrubs that are easy to grow and won’t interfere with commercial crops.

If you’d like to grow bee-friendly plants in your own backyard, follow these easy guidelines:

• Don’t use pesticides.
• Choose flowers that are a variety of shapes in shades of white, blue, purple, and yellow.
• Native plants are most appealing to the bees that are native to your area. So use local plants in your garden.
• Plant flowers in clusters so they’ll be easy for bees to find, and put them in sunny spots where bees are most likely to be buzzing.