The best way to celebrate the Day of the Honey Bee...
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- Published on Thursday, 29 May 2014 17:20
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Protect bees from dangerous pesticides!
Hi PAOV,
Today across Canada, municipalities and provincial governments – including BC – have been celebrating the “Day of the Honey Bee”, in recognition of the vital role that bees play in our daily lives, our economy and maintaining our food supply.
But right now, a dangerous class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (pronounced neo-nicoteen-oids) is putting bees and wild pollinators at risk.
Neonicotinoids are widely used in BC and across Canada on a variety of fruit and vegetable crops, including blueberries and corn. These pesticides have been directly implicated in the deaths of tens of millions of honey bees across the country.
For more info about the importance of pollinators and the impacts of neonicotinoids, please check out our educational report, Disappearing Bees: Pollinators in Peril.
The regulation of pesticides in Canada falls under both provincial and federal jurisdiction. We have already been calling on the federal government to enact a complete nation-wide ban on these bee-killing pesticides, but so far the authorities at Health Canada have been slow to respond.
We will continue to put pressure on the federal government, but we must also hold the BC government to account.
Now, while BC is honouring the important contribution that bees make in the province’s agricultural industries, the Wilderness Committee is calling on the provincial government to show its appreciation for bees and other wild pollinators by banning neonicotinoid pesticides in British Columbia.
Please join us by writing a letter to BC Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick asking for a provincial ban on these harmful, bee-killing pesticides – before it’s too late for BC’s bees and wild pollinators! If you haven't written to the federal authorities already, you can also take action to demand a Canada-wide ban on these dangerous pesticides.
Write your letter to ban neonicotinoids in BC >>
Write your letter to ban neonicotinoids across Canada >>
We all rely on bees and other wild pollinators – let's show them some love!
For the bees,
Gwen Barlee | Policy Director
Wilderness Committee
P.S. r0
