Bees are dying off worldwide and our entire food chain is in peril. Scientists blame toxic pesticides and four European governments have already banned them. If we get the US and the EU to join the ban, other governments across the world could follow, and save bees from extinction. Sign the petition and forward this urgent appeal:
Sign the petition
Silently, billions of bees are dying off and our entire food chain is in danger. Bees don't just make honey, they are a giant, humble workforce, pollinating 90% of the plants we grow.
Multiple scientific studies blame one group of toxic pesticides for their rapid demise, and bee populations are recovering in countries where these products have been banned. But powerful chemical companies are lobbying hard to keep selling these poisons. Our best chance to save bees now is to push the US and EU to join the ban -- their action is critical and will have a ripple effect on the rest of the world.
We have no time to lose -- the debate is raging about what to do. This is not just about saving bees, this is about survival. Let’s build a giant global buzz calling for the EU and US to outlaw these killer chemicals and save our bees and our food. Sign the emergency petition now, and send it on to everyone and we’ll deliver it to key decision makers:
Bees are vital to life on earth -- every year pollinating plants and crops with an estimated $40bn value, over one third of the food supply in many countries. Without immediate action to save bees many of our favourite fruits, vegetables, and nuts could vanish from our shelves.
Recent years have seen a steep and disturbing global decline in bee populations -- some bee species are already extinct and last week we learned that some US species are at just 4% of their previous numbers. Scientists have been scrambling for answers. Some studies claim the decline may be due to a combination of factors including disease, habitat loss and toxic chemicals. But increasingly independent research has produced strong evidence blaming neonicotinoid pesticides. France, Italy, Slovenia and even Germany, where the main manufacturer Bayer is based, have banned one of these bee killers. But, Bayer continues to export its poison across the world
This issue is now coming to the boil as major new studies have confirmed the scale of this problem. If we can get European and US decision-makers to take action, others will follow. It won’t be easy. A leaked document shows that the US Environmental Protection Agency knew about the pesticide’s dangers, but ignored them. The document says Bayer’s "highly toxic" product is a "major risk concern to non target insects [honey bees]".
We need to make our voices heard to counter Bayer’s very strong influence on policy makers and scientists in both the US and the EU where they fund the studies and sit on policy bodies. The real experts -- the beekeepers and farmers -- want these deadly pesticides prohibited until and unless we have solid, independent studies that show they are safe. Let's support them now. Sign the petition below, then forward this email:
We can no longer leave our delicate food chain in the hands of research run by the chemical companies and the regulators that are in their pockets. Banning this pesticide will move us closer to a world safe for ourselves and the other species we care about and depend on.
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This is a very important issue, please sign this petition, any one who hasn't already done so.
If you live in a city, and do not garden, chances are, you wont have noticed the decline of the bee population, but in rural areas, this is of extreme importance.
We rely so much, on bees to pollinate plants for food, that their destruction, by pollution, could, in itself, cause a major food crisis globally, without even considering the loss of food crops from extreme weather events, or other forms of pollution.
Thank you Chiron for continuing to keep this issue in our minds.
I'm starting to think the whole facebook/twitter funhouse enterprise is working. Everyone is engaged with 'following' one another.
the world doesn't seem to understand - that if our food becomes Frankenfood, and bees are replaced by some sort of robotic insect, or worse--no insect needed, courtesy Monsanto - that we will no longer be eating anything vital, or life-promoting. The ramifications are beyond astounding.
I begin to worry we've all been implanted with a device that says, "if you hear any of these words..." you will turn off, and go play your favorite game.
Hey people!
If you haven't--please watch the video, which is well worth your time. Just a few minutes.
In my day to day activities, including my job... in my experience, most people are either unaware, and\or unconcerned, or just going through the brain dead motions of life.
If I bring these things up at work, or in circles of friends... I am a crazy person.
However, my wife did tell me once that the doctors I gave a nutrition lesson to have stated amongst themselves, that everyone should be listening to me... so perhaps (hopeful thinking here) many people are just concerned about the way they will be perceived among their circles of friends and business acquaintances more than anything else.
In other words... they have given their *power* away willingly to the controlling interests.
I don't use any chemicals at all on my lawn or plants. When I have weeds that I'm trying to get rid of, I use BurnOut which consists of clove oil, vinegar and vegetable oil. My front yard is a mixture of moss, grass with lots of clover. Each spring, I count the honeybees I see in my large clover patch. At most, it's about 10 honeybees. The neighborhood I live in is 51 years old. We have 40 ft oak, hickory and sycamore trees. The back lots owned by the city is wooded. We have a hawk family that nests in one of the trees behind our backyard. We have moles, squirrels, chipmonks, blue birds, cardinals, mockingbirds, blue jays, finches, sparrows, blackbirds, and crows. We also have carpenter bees, bumble bees, ground bees (very similar to yellow jackets) and a couple of years ago we had a hornets nest in our attic (I had a bee guy take it out) A pretty healthy assortment of wildlife. So why so few honeybees? Some of my neighbors use chemicals to maintain a golf course style green lawn. Those pesticides and herbacides are not helping either.
toxic pollutants concentrate in the wax... and not just beeswax.
So the hives are toxic substance concentrators... that is why you really want to find raw, wild harvested, or wild\organic produced honey if you can find it.
If you cannot find this, you are better off with highly processed, cooked honey.
Something I've noticed in my own country, is that a lot of people want "low maintenance" gardens, and this means they pave most of their yards, and stick a few flax plants, succulents and non-flowering foliage plants. Basically they plant anything that will not require any looking after.
There is nothing for bees to eat, no flowers, no bees.
Pesticides are also another killer for our buzzy friends, as are herbicides.
Normally, at this time of year, bees are swarming, to find new homes, but this year I haven't seen a single swarm of honey bees, apart from our native bees.
I have a lot of bees in my garden, because I purposely plant lots of flowering trees, shrubs and flowers. This means the bees are happy, and my vege, and fruit trees get pollinated.
Its also important to supply water for bees in dry times.
Something I've noticed in my own country, is that a lot of people want "low maintenance" gardens, and this means they pave most of their yards, and stick a few flax plants, succulents and non-flowering foliage plants. Basically they plant anything that will not require any looking after.
There is nothing for bees to eat, no flowers, no bees.
Rosemary and dalias are both drought tolerant and require virtually no other care other than occasional watering. And the bees go nuts over both.
Rosemary is popular, but it grows and has to be trimmed back, and dahlias die off every year and have to be cut back, and the tubers lifted.
The above is an example of what I hear from people everyday. They don't want to have to do "anything" in the garden. This is a very common attitude at the moment. I suggested to one woman, who wanted a no work garden, that she would be better off with a Japanese stone garden, no plants=no work.
I hear about how the price of fruit and vege is going up, due to the floods in Queensland, but people seem to not understand, that with a little work, they could grow their own, (particularly in my town, where the majority of people have large back and front yards), then they would not have the problem of paying a high price.
What a pretty plant, I haven't seen this in Australia, so I'm going to hunt around a bit, and see if I can find it. The flowers are prolific, I can see why the bees would love it :)
What a pretty plant, I haven't seen this in Australia, so I'm going to hunt around a bit, and see if I can find it. The flowers are prolific, I can see why the bees would love it :)
Yes, this is the only plant I have ever seen that attracts bees more than rosemary. And it is a desert, drought tolerant plant. There are different species, some having blue flowers and others yellow. I personally like the blue flowered plants.
It would be a perfect plant for my area, but it seems to be unavailable in Australia, do you have a picture of the blue variety, I love blue flowered plants in my garden.
It would be a perfect plant for my area, but it seems to be unavailable in Australia, do you have a picture of the blue variety, I love blue flowered plants in my garden
Did you watch the video? I think it goes a long way to explaining why. Then there's the thing of bees travelling on flatbed trucks from one 'jobsite' to another. Imagine the stress. They are hard-working anyway.
I read something in a small book called "Nature's little wonders: Bees", that is associated with a poem about bees, but it struck me as deeply significant, in light of the bee
genocide that's been going on. It states:
According to custom, honeybees will swarm out of the hive
and vanish if they are not told of a death in the family and permitted to mourn.
this makes me sad. "a death in the family" has such levels of meaning. We are ALL the family--I can't understand why some 'get it', and so many are just blind to it.
That you enjoy such varied wildlife is a blessing.
C
"peer pressure" is much bigger tha a middle school problem.
And I keep telling myself that no on needs compassion more than someone who's given away their own radiance, their potential, becoming little more than a statistic, to all apperances.