Hostile Environments
It’s not only the natural environment that is to blame. Bees and others of nature’s helpers are affected in our towns and cities, on golf courses, parks, corporate grounds, school grounds, suburban yards and city parks. These areas tend to be manicured and pesticides and herbicides are in common use., Pesticide and herbicide use on farms is strictly regulated.
Beekeeper Steve Godlin says that 1.3 million honeybee hives are brought in each spring from around the country to pollinate the California almond crop, which is quickly replacing cotton in the Central Valley. The decimation of honeybee hives and the huge demand for almond pollination has sent the price of cotton to all time highs.
It’s bound to show up soon in grocery store prices, said committee Chairman Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Fresno. The Haagen-Dazs Company has said the company is preparing for not just higher costs but a correlating decline in the supply of pollinated ingredients.
When a survey revealed that half the public is not aware of the bee decline, the Company gave a $250,000 research grant to UC Davis and the University of Pennsylvania. The folks at Haagen-Dazs also started a public education campaign with a limited edition flavor called Vanilla Honey Bee. Their goal is to distribute 1 million flower seeds to consumers and community groups to help native pollinators...
There are lots of ways that people living is urban settings can help, such as creating habitat and avoiding pesticide use.
"All Americans can help now with pollinator-friendly practices in their own backyards," said Laurie Davis Adams, executive director of the San Francisco nonprofit Pollinator Partnership, which was initiated a decade ago to promote biodiversity.
Carefully choosing plants such as native salvias, providing water and shelter or devoting a patch of yard for a garden all help. "Plant, and they will come," she said. These practices not only save money by reducing the need for mowing, watering and chemical fertilizers but have a positive impact on the environment. Every individual can make a contribution even if only in a small way. Collectively, we can make a difference.
The group at www.pollinator.org is helping by issuing guides for each of 35 eco-regions of the country for use by farmers, public-land managers, corporations and consumers for choosing pollinator-friendly plants and practices.
"People who were afraid when they saw a bee are now afraid when they don't see one," Adams said.
