MAY 20 - WORLD BEE DAY 🐝

World Bee Day - A few years ago a local organization started a community beekeeping program in Peterborough. I have always found bees fascinating creatures and so I decided to join an enthusiastic bunch of other people. What I learned took me down a path of self-discovery, which was both educational and illuminating. It was nothing like the path the Israelites took out of Egypt (Exodus 3:8) but it was still a turning point for me -- and although beekeeping did not flow with milk there was always lots of honey.

There are over 20,000 species of bees. Safeguarding bees, safeguards biodiversity.

It is estimated that in the world today there are between 20,000 – 30,000 species of bees, with approximately 4,000 species native to North America. Up to 75% of our crops rely on bees and other pollinators like butterflies. At the same time all pollinators are seeing a dramatic drop in their populations due to climate change, use of insecticides, loss of habitat, and other factors. And the main culprit of all this damage is humans.

The star of the bee world is the honeybee. We see it everywhere, from packages of seeds to a Cheerios box. Often overlooked but just as important are solitary native bee species like the Leafcutter, Mason or Sweat Bee. The European honeybee was brought by settler colonialists 400 years ago to Turtle Island (North America), for the sole reason that it produced honey and beeswax. This type of bee is not a native species but is considered by biologists to be an invasive species.

Image: Unsplash/Art Rachen

In our human history, honey has been a constant. For example, honey has been found in the pyramids in Egypt. It was coveted for its purity and sometimes became more valuable than gold. It was also used by many cultures through the ages as a medicine, taken internally or used as a salve for burns or other injuries.

In our world now, stories of bees and insects often fill the news; in the past few years we’ve read about killer bees and murder hornets. These are chilling images, but not new ones, as these scary harbingers of fear and death show up elsewhere in the story of the Israelites. (Exodus 23:28 and Deuteronomy 7:20). I would wager that the majority of people would prefer the honeybee over a murder hornet any day. Having worked with honeybees and having had unfortunate run-ins with hornets I would definitely take the former.

We live in a world struggling to come out of a pandemic, seeing the terror of war, facing climate change and addressing so many existential crises coming at us we can easily become overwhelmed and discouraged. The decline of bees and other pollinators has affected the ecological balance of the planet. What can each one of us do to be the change in the world? It starts with educating ourselves (and those around us) and being aware of the world. To look at things with a child’s viewpoint. There is nothing more wonderful then when I work with children at a hive or in the classroom, and when I see the wonder of this blue orb in space (we call Earth) through their eyes.

We – adults and children—can help bees and other pollinators by planting flowers which attract them. We can help bees by buying honey from local beekeepers, not using insecticides, letting dandelions grow in the spring (as they are one of the first sources of nectar) or by learning more about native bee species in our gardens. If we help one species we help all the world. That would be a good lesson for humanity to finally learn. It’s appropriate that the purpose of the UN World Bee Day is “Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees”.

United Nations World Bee Day, May 20

By: Tom Childs

Tom is a husband, father and grandfather, was born and raised in Toronto and now lives in Peterborough. He is also an ordained elder and lay missionary in the Presbyterian Church in Canada.  

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Timeline leading to World Bee Day

20 May 1734 – Breznica, Slovenia Birth of Anton Janša, who came from a long line of beekeepers, became a pioneer of modern apiculture. Bees were a frequent topic of conversation with neighbouring farmers, who would gather at the village and discuss farming and bee-keeping practices.

1766 - Anton enrolled in the first bee-keeping school in Europe.

1769 – Janša worked fulltime as a beekeeper.

1771 – Published the book Discussion on Bee-keeping in German.

2016 – At the FAO Regional Conference for Europe, the Republic of Slovenia proposed World Bee Day to be celebrated on 20 May each year, with the support of Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Association.

2017 – Proposal for World Bee Day was submitted for consideration at the 40th Session of FAO Conference.

2017 – UN General Assembly unanimously proclaimed 20 May as World Bee Day.

20 May 2018 – First Observance of World Bee Day.

*source: https://www.fao.org/world-bee-day/en/

World Bee Day - May 20th

United Nations World Bee Day, May 20

A few years ago a local organization started a community beekeeping program in Peterborough. I have always found bees fascinating creatures and so I decided to join an enthusiastic bunch of other people. What I learned took me down a path of self-discovery, which was both educational and illuminating. It was nothing like the path the Israelites took out of Egypt (Exodus 3:8) but it was still a turning point for me -- and although beekeeping did not flow with milk there was always lots of honey.

It is estimated that in the world today there are between 20,000 – 30,000 species of bees, with approximately 4,000 species native to North America. Up to 75% of our crops rely on bees and other pollinators like butterflies. At the same time all pollinators are seeing a dramatic drop in their populations due to climate change, use of insecticides, loss of habitat, and other factors. And the main culprit of all this damage is humans.

The star of the bee world is the honeybee. We see it everywhere, from packages of seeds to a Cheerios box. Often overlooked but just as important are solitary native bee species like the Leafcutter, Mason or Sweat Bee. The European honeybee was brought by settler colonialists 400 years ago to Turtle Island (North America), for the sole reason that it produced honey and beeswax. This type of bee is not a native species but is considered by biologists to be an invasive species.

In our human history, honey has been a constant. For example, honey has been found in the pyramids in Egypt. It was coveted for its purity and sometimes became more valuable than gold. It was also used by many cultures through the ages as a medicine, taken internally or used as a salve for burns or other injuries.

In our world now, stories of bees and insects often fill the news; in the past few years we’ve read about killer bees and murder hornets. These are chilling images, but not new ones, as these scary harbingers of fear and death show up elsewhere in the story of the Israelites. (Exodus 23:28 and Deuteronomy 7:20). I would wager that the majority of people would prefer the honeybee over a murder hornet any day. Having worked with honeybees and having had unfortunate run-ins with hornets I would definitely take the former.

We live in a world struggling to come out of a pandemic, seeing the terror of war, facing climate change and addressing so many existential crises coming at us we can easily become overwhelmed and discouraged. The decline of bees and other pollinators has affected the ecological balance of the planet. What can each one of us do to be the change in the world? It starts with educating ourselves (and those around us) and being aware of the world. To look at things with a child’s viewpoint. There is nothing more wonderful then when I work with children at a hive or in the classroom, and when I see the wonder of this blue orb in space (we call Earth) through their eyes.

We – adults and children—can help bees and other pollinators by planting flowers which attract them. We can help bees by buying honey from local beekeepers, not using insecticides, letting dandelions grow in the spring (as they are one of the first sources of nectar) or by learning more about native bee species in our gardens. If we help one species we help all the world. That would be a good lesson for humanity to finally learn. It’s appropriate that the purpose of the UN World Bee Day is “Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees”.

By: Tom Childs

Tom is a husband, father and grandfather, was born and raised in Toronto and now lives in Peterborough. He is also an ordained elder and lay missionary in the Presbyterian Church in Canada.  

Critical Environmental Issues in Canada

The Saturday, April 3rd edition of The Globe and Mail contains three articles that should concern us all and call our government to account.

“Troubled Waters” by Alexandra Morton describes the disastrous decline of wild salmon populations on Canada’s west coast. The article states: “Salmon farming in Canada was born on the wrong side of the law more than 30 years ago, and it has continued to bend the spirit and intention of Canadian fishery laws, no matter the successful legal challenges to its practices or the science measuring the harm it causes to wild fish.”  Morton cites instances of senior bureaucrats playing down and suppressing science reports on the impact of salmon farms on wild salmon. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) refused to acknowledge evidence of their own and other scientists about a decimating virus traced to Norway that caused heart damage and the rupture of red blood cells of chinook salmon. Only 5% of the late-run Fraser River sockeye salmon lived to return to the river in 2020. Morton decries the government’s act of hiding evidence of an epidemic that could wipe out the last of the salmon in the Fraser River, the largest salmon river in the world. The renowned biologist issues a warning: This is a moment after which B.C. will never be the same.  Many wild salmon populations can no longer decline; if this abuse continues, they can only vanish.”

In this same issue of The Globe and Mail, “Delta in danger: Time is running out for Vancouver’s ecological wonderland” is equally troubling. Margaret Munroe, a Vancouver-based journalist describes abuses of journalists and wildlife photographers, and human traffic that has battered the Fraser estuary, one of the richest and dynamic ecosystems on earth.  In the past 200 years, the landscape has been transformed “Grizzlies and elk are long gone, and less than 30 percent of the wild habitat remains.”  The floodplain has been drained and diked to allow for farms and the sprawl of Metro Vancouver.  The Port of Vancouver’s plan for a 3.5 billion dollar expansion of a shipping terminal and a ship-to-ship LNG marine refueling service, and the continued development and encroachment of the estuary threaten the wetlands on which chinook salmon depend and the killer whales that, in turn, rely on the salmon.   A recent UBC study concludes that there is an urgent need for action to protect and restore the estuary in which two-thirds of the 102 species have less than a 50% chance of survival over the next 25 years.     

Finally, the third article by two-time Olympian, Scott Niedermayer, “Old-growth forests are an invaluable resource we can’t afford to lose” evokes sadness. These once vast forests which have been growing from the middle ages have been mostly lost. Less than 3% of the province’s forested land is made up of big tree, old-growth forests, an area of only about 400,000 hectares. Many species of animals are endangered. The role of the forests in storing carbon dioxide and mitigating climate change is critical. Unless these old-growth forests are no longer logged, they will be gone forever from earth, our common home.

We need a government that exercises its responsibility to the world in placing the protection of our environment above economic self-interests.  We also need each of us to demand that our government fulfill its responsibility.      

-Sister Pat McKeon, csj

Goodbye and Good Riddance!

Canada to ban six single-use plastic items next year.

This month, the federal government announced it would be adding plastics to the Toxic Substance List under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). This is a crucial step towards regulations that would reduce plastic production, use and disposal. It’s about time.

Canada to ban six single-use plastic items

Photo credit: Ruth Hartnup/Flickr Creative Commons

As part of the same announcement, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released a draft management plan outlining the actions his ministry is considering to eliminate plastic waste. One of those actions is banning some single-use plastic items, specifically: grocery bags, straws, cutlery, six-pack rings, some takeout containers, and stir sticks.

The list itself is a good start. Canada has obviously been taking cues from the European Union (EU), which already moved to ban most of the same items last year. But Canada needs to do much more than ban plastic straws and spoons if it’s serious about a zero plastic waste future.

Much more is needed to tackle the plastic crisis

The truth is that our current, linear economy—where disposable products and packaging are the norm—is unsustainable. Instead, we need to transition to a circular economy, where reduction, reuse, and repair are prioritized and materials stay in the economy and out of landfills, incinerators and the environment.

Unfortunately, notwithstanding the bans, it looks like the government is going all-in on recycling as a silver bullet solution to plastic waste. But the reality is that recycling was a lie sold to us by the same industry committed to filling our cabinets, landfills and oceans with plastic —the petrochemical lobby.

Beyond the fact that many kinds of plastic are impractical or impossible to recycle, there are limits on the number of times plastic can be recycled before the polymers are too degraded and the material needs to be thrown away.

That’s why Canada needs to impose and enforce reduction and reuse targets, in addition to recycling and recycled content targets.

Next steps for Canada to tackle plastic pollution

Between now and December 9, the government is asking Canadians, businesses, and other stakeholders to provide feedback on their proposed management plan. We’ll be at the table, pushing hard for the regulations we need to eliminate plastic waste in Canada, including:

1. Finalizing the addition of plastics to the Toxic Substance List, under Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 by the end of 2020;

2. Banning at a minimum the six items proposed in the draft management plan by the end of 2021, and adding additional plastic items to the ban list in future years;

3. Working with provinces and territories to make the companies that produce plastic products and packaging financially and operationally responsible for plastic waste (Extended Producer Responsibility, EPR), and ensuring harmonization from coast-to-coast-to-coast; and

4. Establishing and enforcing high reduction, reuse, recycling, and recycled content targets to support Canada’s transition to a circular economy.

The plastic crisis has been growing for decades, and there is no immediate solution. It will take actions from all levels of governments, industry and society to overcome it. But this announcement is a step in the right direction.

- Ashley Wallis, Plastics Program Manager, Environmental Defence