The New Zealand Bee Team...

bee eating (Photo credit: acidpix)

For our future's sake, make bees welcome...

We've taken their busy-bee activities for granted and enjoyed the fruit of their labour so now it's time to give something back. Bee populations are in serious decline around the world, and New Zealand is no exception.

Of 100 crops that supply 90 per cent of the world's food, bees pollinate more than 70 per cent.

A recent conference at Eastwoodhill Arboretum in Gisborne revealed the importance of bees to our economy - worth $5 billion annually because of their pollination efforts in pastoral, horticultural and seed-production industries.

In New Zealand, the key factors of a decline in bee numbers include the varroa mite and associated viruses, new systemic pesticides and the loss of good pollen and nectar sources. Mass plantings of monocultural crops in farming and forestry have limited the diversity of forage plant species for honey bees and other pollinators.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10907430&ref=rss

Ecospree

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