Happy New Year! Our younger guests love the bees and butterflies in the Chez Sven garden, so I thought it would be nice to start the new decade with bees:
“Isn’t it funny how a bear likes honey? Buzz, buzz, buzz. I wonder why he does?”
I’m sure you know the origin of this quote. All former children do: Winnie-the-Pooh! Let’s try another from the famous bear:
“If there’s a buzzing noise, somebody’s making a buzzing-noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you’re a bee. And the only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey….”
Well, actually, there’s another important, if unintentional, reason: pollination!
We really need our bees.
Here’s what I’m hoping for 2010. May it be a year of environmental enlightenment and environmental action by citizens. I hope scientists will figure out why one in 110 children is born with autism and prove the link between toxic chemicals and certain types of cancer. Locally, I hope we succeed in stopping NStar from spraying up to six herbicides under the power lines. I hope the regulation of chemicals will be fast-tracked by the EPA, and a ground swell of energy will rise from the nation to prevent the chemical industry from its inevitable attempt to stop any new regulation of toxic chemicals.
My resolution for 2010 is to spread the word that toxic chemicals should be regulated and that GM crops may be good for corporate interests but are AWFUL for people.
Beekeepers are worried that their bees are dying. We should be, too. If the bees are dying, there must be a reason. Those in the know suspect GM modifications to seed coatings could play a role. Read all about it here.
Sierra Club’s Genetic Engineering Action Team chairperson Laurel Hopwood urges everyone to react. How? To begin with, contact Steve Owens at the EPA, (owens.steve AT epa.gov) and request a suspension of the neonicotinoid seed coatings until independent scientists verify safety. First, watch this trailer for the new documentary, Nicotine Bees.
