May 11, 2016Joanna Kappele

gallery SAVE THE BEES, SAVE OURSELVES

Honey Bee Colonies See Record Losses of 44% during Past Year
May 10th, 2016 Center for Food Safety

Beekeepers report catastrophic loss in annual nationwide government survey

WASHINGTON— Beekeepers across America have lost 44 percent of their honey bee colonies from April 2015 to April 2016, according to an annual survey released today. The Bee Informed Partnership, with support from the Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, released the results from its annual survey of honey bee colony losses and found that for the second year in a row colony loss numbers were above 40 percent. 2015-2016 is also the second consecutive year that summer loss rates were as high as winter loss rates.

The following is a statement from Larissa Walker, pollinator program director at Center for Food Safety:

“Bees, beekeepers and anyone who eats food are all impacted by severe declines in honey bee colonies – these consecutively high losses year after year are catastrophic to our food system.

“Scientific studies continue to link uses of pesticides to bee kills and poor colony health. This year’s survey results should be a major wake up call for regulators who have failed to tackle issues with toxic pesticides head-on. The longer the government waits to take action, the more bees and beekeepers will continue to suffer.”

Beautiful giving bees, though they never ask for anything from us are responsible for pollinating these foods we love: Apples, Strawberries, Cherries, Watermelon, Squash, Pumpkin, Lentils, Beans, Onions, Peanuts, Olives, Alfalfa, Peaches, Pears, Grapes, Coffee, Coco, Cranberries, Almonds, Broccoli, Blueberries, Cucumber, Cotton, and more…
As studies indicate, pesticides in conjunction with the growing of GMO foods are causing massive suffering within bee populations.  Can you imagine the world without them and the wonderful foods they provide for us?  Without their pollinating magic there’d be little left for us to eat other than a few grains and water, malnutrition would be rampant. Malnutrition opens the gateway for disease and off we go; not a bright looking future.  For bees’ sake as well as for our own, can’t we help end the use, overuse, and abuse of toxic pesticides?
Our own EPA is doing little to curtail the use of pesticides. You can help your and your family’s health by not buying or using these products on your lawn.

SOLUTIONS

1. Avoid Toxic Pesticides that cause harm to people and planet
  
2. Help repeal the Monsanto Protection Act (passed through the spending bill HR 933 in 2014). This clause limits citizens’ rights and provides supernatural protection and safeguards to Monsanto, Bayer, and the companies that poison us. Write to your representatives and senators and even the President, urging them to repeal this measure and do more to protect our food supply and our health.

June 15, 2015 “The Monsanto Protection Act is back, and it’s even worse than before. This bill would strip away a state or local government’s basic rights of local control, and hands the biotech industry everything it wants on a silver platter. No Member of Congress that cares about the rights and concerns of his or her constituents should support this bill,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director at Center for Food Safety.” Read more

3. Support mindful chefs like Rick Bayless of Chicago’s Frontera Grill. Go to the www.chefscollaborative.org to find chefs near you who use locally grown produce and avoid overfished and grossly farmed species.

4. Avoid using chemical pesticides and fertilizers on your lawn or in your home. If possible, grow or buy local, biodynamic, and organic fruits and vegetables, as well as fresh eggs, dairy and meat products from animals that are not exposed to gmo feed, rBGH growth hormones, nor overly injected with antibiotics and steroids.  Unfortunately we live in a world where farming has become industrialized and focused on quantity and money rather than value, quality, or caring for animals. You can choose to support the small farmers that still care about the land, the animals, and about you.

Learn more:  

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