The last sentence is important and it is the one lacking in most of the discussions I had with plant and seed suppliers. It has become more important to sell perfect flowers or blemish-free fruit than to protect pollinators. We have to understand that this dichotomy has a clearly unsustainable future and change it with our voices and our pocketbooks.
The problem of pollinator poisoning is much bigger than just honey bees. Forgotten pollinators include bumblebees, native ground and wood nesting bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, many species of flies and beetles, hummingbirds, and in some parts of the country, even bats. On top of this are all the creatures higher on the food chain that depend on the pollinators -- including humans. I will end with a quote from "Colony Collapse Disorder Is Not What You Think" by Willy Blackmore:
"If saving the bees means changing what we provide them--more diverse farms, less pesticide use, smaller-scale agriculture existing alongside wild habitats--we may be doing more than warding off the silent spring. We may be saving ourselves." [11]
1. USDA, Honey Bee Health and Colony Collapse Disorder, www.ars.usda.gov/news/docs.htm?docid=15572
2. Mother Jones, 90% of Corn is Coated with Bayer's Bee Decimating Pesticide. http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/05/catching-my-reading-ahead-pesticide-industry-confab
3. "Forgotten Pollinators," Stephen Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan
4. "Pollinator Conservation Handbook," Xerces Society, Matthew Shepherd and Stephen L. Buchmann
5. click here
6. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
