Do you ever think about that juicy apple and wonder how it came to be? Sure it was grown on a tree and it needed sunlight and water. Do you think about the pollination of the apple tree’s bloom? You probably think much about it. Have you noticed you see a lot less bees floating from flower to flower in your yard? I have. I have a love hate relationship with bees. I know they are the great pollinator and that I can thank them for my fruits and veggies but I am allergic too. When we were kids we had a pool and the yard was covered in clover. Each year, at least once, I would get stung while running barefoot through the yard after a pool toy. I would spend the next five days lying on the couch with a swollen foot covered in meat tenderizer or ice to reduce the swelling. I am not upset about losing a few days of summer play to a bee sting each year. That is just part of life. No big deal. Now that I am older I fight the suburbian urge to treat my lawn with chemicals creating a solid grass carpet. I hate the smell of the pesticides the neighbors use.
I had heard that it was the pesticides that were killing the bees. So I have done a bit of research on the situation and I think it is a bit of everything, though the pesticides are making it worse. It is like cancer in us. It is typically not 1 thing that triggers cancer but a combination of diet, pollution, exercise and DNA that allows one person to develop cancer and the next to not. I think it is the same for the bees. The pesticides are definitely having the biggest impact but they are not the only thing that is killing them. Mites, viruses, bacteria and modern industrial bee keeping are weakling the colonies.
There are reports that Bayer’s neonicotinoid pesticides are killing off bees. Neonicotinoid pesticides is a synthetic chemicals derived from nicotine. It is reported that when a bee lands on and begins collecting pollen from plants sprayed with the pesticides they become disorganized, confused and often unable to fly off the plant. The bees fall from the flower and die. This is why in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) results in abandoned hives with just a few dead infant bees and a queen inside. National Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, Europe and many others are working to ban these products. We can’t rely on the government and organizations alone to stop the use of these products. We must do our part to help our great pollinators. Avoid using Bayer’s pesticides products and consider holistic garden practices, signing petitions and write Bayer and your congressmen.
Take a look at Change.org’s petition
Resources:
Vanishing of the Bees Documentary
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