Unless you live under a rock you would know that bee populations have drastically declined. If you aren’t concerned about the decline in bee populations, you should be. If you believe that the impact of lower bee population won’t impact you, you’re wrong. Bees help produce 75% of all of the food we consume.
A lot of people think they can’t help the bees population, however you can! There are many things we can all do to help SAVE THE BEES. Below is a list of 5 things you can do to help.
1) Avoid pesticides and herbicides.
Pesticides and herbicides contain chemicals that are very harmful to bees and other pollinating insects. Let’s say you are spraying pesticides on dandelions at 9am, and at 11am a bumble bee comes along and collects pollen from the same dandelion that you sprayed at 9am. The bumble bee doesn’t know that a deadly chemical has been sprayed on this flower, so when the bumble bee pollinates this dandelion it has now exposed itself to the deadly spray. Soon after the bumble bee will die. Your concern about this harmless dandelion being in your lawn just killed this bee - is it worth it?
2) Plant Bee Friendly Flowers Native To Your.
Make sure you do the research to find out what plants are native to your area that could be beneficial to the bees. I also suggest that you grow plants that allow continuous pollen throughout the full spring, summer, fall season. If you are local to Southwestern Ontario check out the University of Guelph suggestions of plants here.
3) Bees need water to survive too.
Bees are thirsty too. At home we have items such as sticks, rocks, and leaves that float in our rain barrels so bees can land on them and drink the water. If you are worried about mosquitoes put a dish out with some rocks in it, change the water once a week to keep other insects away. Don’t add any sugar or honey to the water, freshwater works best.
4) Support Your Local Farmers. Supporting food producers that are local to you helps the ecosystem by reducing the costs (both financial and environmental) of transporting food hundreds of kilometers to grocery stores. In addition, supporting local provides job(s) for local residents, allows small businesses to keep their farmland and reduces the likelihood of shopping centers and other types of human expansion that reduces the natural habitat of bees. If that isn’t enough to get you thinking local, consider how much longer your groceries will last in your fridge because they aren’t spending days to weeks in transit between the farm and your fridge!
5) Support Your Local Beekeeper. Beekeepers are educated on what it takes to make sure their bees are strong and healthy to help to contribute to the ecosystem. Purchasing your honey directly from the beekeeper will guarantee you the most delicious honey 100% of the time!