Gardeners, Nurseries Urged to Protect Bees

This spring, pollinator gardens are gaining popularity – but some well-meaning gardeners may not realize they could be harming the species they’re trying to protect.

Plants sold at many retail nurseries to attract bees and butterflies actually contain pesticides that can kill or sterilize pollinators.

Aimee Code, pesticide program director at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation urged consumers to ask questions before they buy.

“To make sure that we’re doing the right thing for those pollinators,” said Code, “it’s worth going to your nursery and asking them, ‘Are you using neonicotinoids on these plants? Do you talk to your supplier about their practices to protect bees?'”

bees

You can find a tip sheet with other questions to ask on the Xerces Society website. They also have a guide for nurseries on how to repel pests without using harmful pesticides.

A 2019 study from the University of New Hampshire found 14 bee species native to the Northeast are in decline, including yellow-banded and rusty patch bumblebees that were once common.

Lowe’s and Home Depot did stop selling plants grown with neonicotinoids, but conservation groups want them to go further and ban other types of pesticides as well.

Code said shoppers should ask for organically grown plants, and be willing to accept them – even if they have a few blemishes.

“Consumers want perfect plants that appear fully healthy, so any little nibble, any little ‘off’ color concerns the consumer,” said Code. “And that actually leads to pretty heavy pesticide use in the nursery industry.”

A 2014 study from Friends of the Earth tested plants across the country and found pesticide residue was ubiquitous – not only on farms, but at parks, gardens, nurseries and even wildlife refuges.

The post Gardeners, Nurseries Urged to Protect Bees appeared first on Sunshine Slate.



source https://www.sunshineslate.com/business/environment/gardeners-nurseries-urged-to-protect-bees/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How can Energy Audits inform your Net Zero Strategy?

Image
Many organisations are already in the habit of undertaking energy audits to highlight where energy and water efficiencies can be made, save on utility costs, and reduce carbon emissions. Unfortunately, the sad reality of many energy audits and surveys (especially ones that are completed for compliance with ESOS), is that once they are completed, the report is often tucked away into a ‘virtual’ drawer, never to be seen again. But what if there was another use for that forgotten energy audit? Did you know that it could actually be a really useful business tool to help get you started on your net zero journey? To help you harness that data in a practical way, Energy Services Analyst, Rhiannon Farquhar explains what makes energy audits so essential to carbon management and how they can be used to get your business on the path to net zero. So, what are energy audits? To put it simply, an energy audit is an assessment of the energy needs and efficiency of a building (or process), which
Read more

Garden Offices | The Ultimate Work from Home Solution for 2021

Image
The Pros and Cons of Working from Home Working from home was not so long ago considered a perk of the job, however, the much-longed-for 30-second commute, for many of us, has finally become a realisation. Prior to the global pandemic, we would have spent 492 days of our lives commuting to and from work and inevitably, Covid-19 has brought about a catalyst of change. Businesses are now seeing the benefits of reducing costs by giving up office spaces, and with commuting now significantly reduced, one of the biggest winners out of this situation is the environment. With this in mind, there’s no doubt that the “new normal” of home working is, quite clearly, here to stay. The general consensus is that working from home is wholly positive and can provide a better work-life balance. Whilst this is true, there is evidence to suggest that this can be quite the opposite, with staff working later than usual as they battle to “switch-off” when their working day is over. So, what’s the solutio
Read more

Forgiveness Plan Would Remove One-Third of Students’ Loan Debt

Image
About one in three Idahoans who have federal student-loan debt would see it erased entirely if the Biden administration goes forward with a $10,000 forgiveness plan. That’s according to analysis from the website Student Loan Hero . President Joe Biden is considering eliminating the debt through executive order. Andrew Pentis, a senior writer and certified student loan counselor at Student Loan Hero, said the average monthly loan repayment in Idaho is $274. “Whether you have more or less than $10,000 worth of student loans left to repay, this dose of forgiveness would be hugely helpful, in either getting rid of your debt or shrinking it considerably,” said Pentis. “So certainly, if you’re a borrower in Idaho, you’d be rooting for something like this to happen.” The Trump administration paused federal student loan repayments in March 2020 during the pandemic. Biden extended the pause on his first day in office through at least October 1. Some Democrats want the Biden administration
Read more