Each year roving apiculturists truck millions of bees around North America from farm to farm providing bees to pollinate crops.
Whether we realize it or not, humanity is dependant on the tireless pollination work that bees provide in agriculture. Without bees, we may not have strawberries, almonds, apples and many other fruits and vegetables to eat.
Starting from two hives that arrived in 1858, B.C. now has more than 2,300 beekeepers, 47,000 colonies and approximately two million bees. Bee pollination accounts for $250 million of fruit, berry and canola production in B.C. and $1.5 billion of agricultural production in Canada. B.C. also annually produces $10 million of honey in different flavours as well as other hive products. Interestingly, May 29 was declared Day of the Honey Bee by B.C. Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick to celebrate our beekeeping heritage, according to the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture website, gov.bc.ca/agri.
Over the past decade there have been numerous stories in the news about bee colony collapse disorder, Varroa mite attacks on bees, pesticide kills of entire colonies and the gradual loss of millions of bees around the world. I am not going to go into the details of those problems that I believe are directly related to widespread pesticide use in agriculture and horticulture. If you want detailed information on the problem I recommend you visit the TED website and watch the insightful presentations of two leading scientists involved in bee research. The first presentation is called Why bees are disappearing, by Dr. Marla Spivak from the University of Minnesota. The second presentation, A plea for bees, is given by Dennis Vanengelsdorp, assistant professor of entomology at the University of Maryland. Each presentation is 15 minutes long and provides insightful and sciencebased discussions of the problems surrounding the ongoing death of bee colonies. Local bee keeping information can be found at northshorebeekeepingclub. weebly.com. You can also visit the B.C. Honey Producers Association website at bcbeekeepers.com for more information.
Politicians who carelessly legalize pesticide use and chemical companies that manufacture pesticides are directly responsible for the worldwide death of millions of bees despite the chorus of voices sounding alarm bells. A case in point, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was embarrassed in 2010 over a leaked document showing the agency gave conditional approval of an insecticide, despite warnings from the agency's own scientists that the chemical was toxic to bees. The chemical manufacturer lobbied for registration of the chemical. I did not mention the company name because suing people is how chemical companies stifle opposition to their selling of poison. You may think such problems only happen in America but any pesticide registered in the United States is almost always given approval in Canada, because Canada is considered by chemical companies to be the "51st state" when it comes to pesticide registration.
It is people who buy pesticides that drive up earnings for chemical companies. If we exercise our choice not to buy, then harmful products will not be manufactured. So if you like eating apples or tomatoes and think bees are important to our food security, here are some practises you can implement at home to help bees survive.
Provide diverse food sources: Bees need to feed every day so there must be an abundance of food available to sustain them. Plant annuals, perennials, flowering shrubs and trees to bloom at different times of the year to provide ongoing food sources. It is more important to have something blooming versus choosing only specific beefriendly plants. However, if specificity is your thing, try planting foxgloves, rhodos, poppies, chives and daisies to name a few. Interestingly, dandelions bloom early and continuously so they are a good food source for bees. To prevent dandelions from spreading, regularly deadhead them like any other perennial.
Supply a water source: Bees need clean water to drink. The water does not have to be deep, so an oak barrel, pottery basin or even a shallow pond can provide enough water. Rain water harvesting is a good way to provide water for beneficial insects and bees.
Stop using all pesticides: I don't care if you have weeds, a bug on your plants or some mildew problem on roses, stop buying and using pesticides and think about the bees and your children's future. I do not use pesticides and my garden is as beautiful as any garden in the province. All pesticides are toxic to bees, including weed killing herbicides.
Allow bees to have a home: I know this is a difficult concept to implement in a residential setting. However, no home - no bees. Tolerance is important for this practice to work. Parks, wild spaces and roadside hedgerows can accommodate wildlife stumps, rough brush, large trees and old perennial stalks to provide bee harbourage.
Todd Major is a journeyman horticulturist, garden designer and builder, teacher and organic advocate. [email protected]
