Pollinator Dinner

For this bee, gathering nectar will be it's dinner...somehow or another as I don't pretend to be an expert on bees. I found the following article which gives me some hope that agencies are working to correct some of the problems we have with our pollinating friends. Some as*&@#s idiots in Salem didn't get that memo, as a company sprayed flowering trees which caused bees to die all over the sidewalks. Did they not learn from the LAST spraying fiasco that ended up in thousands of bees dying? Apparently not, which is so disheartening. The title I thought of for this blip was The Last Honey Bee. I hope it never comes to that. (This is at a neighbor's large patch of lavender..) I made part of the below statement in bold because after reading this for the second time, I picked up on the word MONSANTO. Ha! Lots of controversy with them. I guess they are trying to make nice.

Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed and of the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand.

Ed Spevak of the Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare Institute Center for Native Pollinator Conservation and the Zoo’s Curator of Invertebrates introduced the Honey Bee Health Coalition, noting that it brings together beekeepers, growers, researchers, government agencies, agribusinesses, conservation groups, manufacturers and consumer brands, and other key partners in the U.S. and Canada to improve the health of honey bees and other pollinators, ecosystems, and the security of our food supply. Approximately 80% of flowering plants rely on the honey bee and other native and managed pollinators; these plants include crops like almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, squashes, tomatoes, and alfalfa among many others.
“We helped found this Coalition because honey bees support approximately $18 billion of United States food production annually,” said Randy Verhoek, President of the American Honey Producers Association. “In the United States, approximately 30% of managed honey bees now die each winter,” he continued, “compared to around 15% that beekeepers consider acceptable. This makes it increasingly difficult for beekeepers to stay in business, hurting not only the beekeepers and their families but also the farmers and agricultural communities that rely on those bees to pollinate crops.”
“If we do not act collaboratively to find solutions that work for all involved, honey bee health, the ability to produce fruits, nuts and vegetables, and the ability to sustain ecosystems and the economy will all be impacted,” said Jerry Hayes, Honey Bee Health Lead for Monsanto. “A healthy bee population is imperative for our industry and for our supply chain, and we need collaboration across stakeholders. This coalition is a great step in this direction.”