….maybe I’m being overly optimistic

I can imagine that if you’re allergic to bee stings you may not be delighted with this statement. Bees, however, are critical to the survival of this planet. Without them our food production could disappear. They pollinate 70 out of 100 species of plants that feed 90% of the world’s population.

Unfortunately the honeybee population is decreasing at an alarming rate, mostly due to the use of pesticides and habitat loss. Longer and colder winters, in some areas, hasn’t help either. So what can we do about it?

At a local level you can advocate for the ban of dangerous pesticides in our parks and our own gardens, encourage city councillors to commit to returning some park lands back to natural states so that wild flowers can thrive and provide a food source for bees and plant flowers in your own garden or flower boxes that attract bees.

On my recent walks and in my own backyard I’ve been seeing an abundance of bees pollinating the wildflowers and my climbing hydrangea. I hope you’re seeing the return of bees in your neighbourhood. We can’t take them for granted.