A frequently asked question we have received the last three years is, “Where are all the bees!” We will go over the Urban Area Bee Decline.
Written by: Bee For Life Foundation
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It’s not just Honey Bees that are missing from urban gardens, sightings of Bumblebees, Sweat Bees and Butterflies have been down Nation-wide.
Noticeably, urban beekeepers have been losing strong colonies at a alarming rate. The question is why, what is going on, is it climate change or something more ominous.
The ecosystem we rely on, also relies on pollinators to keep it productive. Bees and other flying insects are responsible for making food for humans, but animals and bird alike.
Dr. Gouldson’s paper shows a seventy five percent decline of flying insect populations in Europe. Yet, it is not just a European phenomenon, pollinators have been disappearing Worldwide and will have devastating effects on our environment and food supply.
Well, here is a major reason for the outrageous pollinator loses. No, mosquitos are not killing the other pollinators, but Man is killing the mosquitos.
An all out attack is under way to delete mosquitos from urban areas. Not only do municipalities spray pollinator hazardous chemicals, now they have private mosquito killing companies spraying what they claim is all natural mosquito killing spray.
So, what’s in this magic, all natural bug killing substance. It is a mix of vegetable oil and essential oils, on of which is lemon grass.
Beekeepers use lemon grass oil to attract bees so that spray is designed to attract pollinators. Also in the mix is permethrin, a synthetic pesticide used to kill insects that touch it.
Worse of all, these private mosquito sprayers are spraying this stuff on open flowers and do not inform area beekeepers of the spraying, which is a federal violation. Permethrin is known to cause colony collapse.
