Post 2 - Save the bees!

Estimates say that 30% of the bee population dies every year.  For farmers who are beekeepers, this means they have additional expenditures of time and resources to replace that population each year in order to keep up with the world's food demand.  The pollinators responsible for the majority of our fruits, vegetables, nuts, and let's not forget honey, have been dying rapidly for several reasons.  The most damaging offenders to bees include herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and the transportation of bees between states to help pollinate areas where there is a lack of pollinators.  Considering herbicides, pesticides and insecticides are used on the majority of our crops, it would seem like bees are doomed.  However, there are ways to support bees surviving and thriving, and everyone from farmers to you and I can play a helpful part.  Primarily, we can advocate for the removal of the aforementioned toxic chemicals in our crops.  (This is also one of the primary issues in the case against genetically modified organisms - GMOs).  Crops without these chemicals are safer for the bees and safer for us.  The Environmental Working Group (EWG) provides constant news on health threats such as these and offers dozens of ways to take political action: www.ewg.org/take-action.  Additionally, those with the space and ability can also plant their own flowers, fruit trees or fruit bushes– free of pesticides, herbicides and insecticides.  That will assure additional, healthy plants to support healthy bees.  Healthy bees means the world can continue to enjoy the literal fruits of their labor.

Produce by Brianna Ehrhart is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.