012 - Cherry Tree Blossom

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Honey bees perform about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide and a single bee colony can pollinate up to 300 million flowers each day.

During the past six decades 2/3 of the US and 1/3 of European bee colonies have disappeared.

This deadly bee decline is caused by interrelated factors —pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming and more.

To reverse the worlds bee decline, most importantly we need to fix our dysfunctional and destructive agricultural system.

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WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Einstein once famously said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”

Just in one year in the US,33% of its bee colonies have disappeared between 2016 and 2017. This is a real crisis nobody takes seriously enough. The solution to it is very complex and requires thorough scientific studies and an international joint strategy on revising agricultural methods and environmental actions.

Thankfully many organizations such as ‘Save The Bees Coalition’ addresses this issue:

• https://www.beecoalition.eu

‘Honeybee Conservancy’ offers a “Sponsor a Hive” program where you can donate and truly rescue one or more hives:

• https://thehoneybeeconservancy.org/sponsor-a-hive/

‘Planet Bee’ has several educational programs you can support.

• Learn more and donate here: https://www.planetbee.org/donate/

Studies show that if only one group of dangerous pesticides (called neonicotinoids) disappeared from agriculture, bees could be saved from extinction. ‘Avaaz’ has a petition on this you can sign:

• https://avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees_global/