BC’s Day of the Honey Bee
News Release
Neonicotinoid pesticides used in BC a buzz kill for bees
VANCOUVER – May 29th marks the Day of the Honey Bee in British Columbia. Started by Saskatchewan beekeeper Clinton Ekdahl in 2009 to draw attention to the plight of the honey bee, the Day of the Honey Bee is now celebrated in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and over 100 municipalities across Canada.
For almost two decades, honey bees and wild pollinators such as bumble bees have suffered startling declines and massive “die-offs,” both in Canada and around the world. Overwintering honey bee losses in Canada have averaged almost 26 per cent for the last eight years, which is significantly above the 10 to 15 per cent overwintering losses that are deemed acceptable to beekeepers.
Multiple factors have contributed to honey bee and wild pollinator declines – including climate change, monoculture, loss of habitat, disease and mites – but it is the use of neonicotinoids (neonics), a potent class of pesticides, that has been increasingly implicated in bee declines. These pesticides can kill and paralyze bees in minute doses; by weight neonics are up to 10,000 times more toxic than DDT.
“The most important thing we can do to celebrate the honey bee in BC and across Canada is to ban the pesticides that are killing them,” said Gwen Barlee, Policy Director with the Wilderness Committee. “Neonicotinoid pesticides were designed to kill insects at tiny doses, so it is no surprise they are killing bees left, right and centre.”
According to Paul van Westendorp, the province’s head apiarist, recent annual honey bee colony losses in BC have ranged from a high of 60 per cent in 2007 to a low of 18 per cent in 2013. Last year, BC colonies suffered an overwintering loss of 22 per cent.
“Bees are responsible for every one in three bites of food we eat, and both a healthy environment and agricultural system depend on thriving bees and wild pollinators,” said Barlee. “Neonics are deadly bee-killing pesticides, and the BC government needs to do what’s right for bees by banning these dangerous pesticides.”
Neonicotinoid pesticides are the most widely used pesticides in the world. After a series of catastrophic bee kills, Ontario has enacted policies to heavily reduce neonicotinoid usage on corn and soybean crops. In BC, neonics are used on a variety of food crops including blueberries, cherries, apples and corn.
The Wilderness Committee will be at Loutet Farm in North Vancouver (East 14th and Rufus Avenue) on Saturday, May 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to educate the public and celebrate the Day of the Honey Bee with the Edible Garden Project.
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For more information, please contact:
Gwen Barlee | Policy Director, Wilderness Committee – (604) 202-0322