Save the Bees

The bees are disappearing in record numbers. It is said if we cannot find a solution, they will completely disappear in ten to twenty years. Agriculture is dependent on bee pollination and without bees, our food supplies will turn to food shortages endangering our very existence.

Is that jetpack a superhero complex?

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is caused by pesticides called neonicotinoids that were developed during World War II as nerve gases to support chemical warfare. The most common insecticides in this category are: acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, thiamethoxam, and thiacloprid. They are sold under various brand names with cute logos not only as pesticides, but in combinations with fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides. Imidacloprid is the most common insecticide used world-wide and corn is the crop most often treated with it.

This guy sends me little cards in the mail requesting money
to support a cure for children's leukemia. Really?
The nerve of stupid people.
You can't imagine how much it irritates me.

Neonicotinoids are used on crops, golf courses, school playgrounds, parks, and residential lawns, gardens and homes. Their increased usage in the past ten years is contributing to the corresponding increases of cancer, kidney and liver disease, thyroid dysfunction, childhood learning disabilities, leukemia, and asthma. Since a dog's favorite activity is laying around on lawn, canine cancer is also on the rise.

I never see women spraying...
Hmmmmm?

The Environmental Protection Agency has done nothing but irresponsibly approve their use without the normally required testing, and the chemical industry has encouraged their overuse by up to three times the recommended limits. France and German have already imposed suspensions and are currently fighting chemical companies to ban these widely-used toxins. The United States has done nothing but aggressively protect chemical companies and their profit margins.

What you can do!! 

1.) Stop using toxic chemicals such as pesticides, fertilizers, fungicides, and herbicides on your lawns and gardens. Go organic!

2.) Stop using toxic chemical pesticides on your homes. Find healthy alternatives.

3.) Support your local organic farmers and gardeners by buying local produce directly from the growers or at farmers' markets.

4.) Write to your local politicians about the consequences of killing the bees.  Question your city's use of herbicides on roadsides and parks.

5.) Write a blog post featuring photos of your stupid neighbors.

6.) Create a bee habitat on your property or find a location for a community garden.

I've done everything in my power to create a bee-loving habitat in my yard filled with plants that attract and support bees. I hope they use it as a safe haven on their escape out of my toxic neighborhood.

Plants that attract bees:

The flowers I currently have in my garden are in bold. I have had others but many are annuals and I didn't replace them after a season.

Borage

borage (This is drugs for bees. They love it.)

butterfly weed

sweet peas

Shasta daisies

Daisies

violets

columbine

purple coneflower

asters

English lavender

Lavender
Actually this might be French. I also had Spanish lavender
but two died.

bee balm

lilac

cinquefoil

Gloriosa daisies

mint

Peppermint

nettle

dandelions

Siberian wallflowers

black-eyed Susans

California poppies

forget-me-nots

Yarrow

yarrow

cornflowers

cosmos

sunflowers

bergamot

foxglove (I've never seen foxglove on any of the bee plant lists, but bees love it, too!)

Foxglove

If you'd like to participate in The Great Sunflower Project or The Backyard Bee Count, all you need to do is grow sunflowers.  Go to www.greatsunflower.org for participation instructions.

My Favorite Flower: Salpiglossis