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Bees - Pollinator Fair at Whole Foods


What: If bees disappeared from the face of the earth, mankind would follow in less than four years.  Quote attributable to Albert Einstein.

Who:  The Whole Foods in Centerville, Ohio.

When: 12noon to 4pm this Saturday June 25th, 2016.

How: Speakers will give presentations to bring attention to the plight of the pollinators and how to help. See the Flyer HERE 

Why: To assist local efforts (Propolis Projects) already under way to increase the population of the pollinators (Bees & Butterfly's.) Their numbers have decreased 40% to 90% in recent years.  Without pollination from these insects our fruit and vegetable crops will not flourish.  Go outside and try to find a bee!

The Propolis Project is a local initiative spearheaded by the Levin Family Foundation, a Dayton philanthropic group who is already working to breed a 'special' queen bee for our area that can also repel pests.  Additionally a food forest will be constructed soon to benefit our pollinators. There's also an opportunity for the needy of Dayton to benefit from the harvest. There will even be Hi-Res camera's fixed on area hives that the public can watch on the internet.

     Video shows there are more pollinators than just bees WATCH IT 

 Our next radio interview concerning this undertaking will have Karen Levin, of the Levin Foundation, Dwight Wells (who is tasked with breeding the "Buckeye Bee," a hygienic bee that came from research developed by Purdue University) and Barb Bloetscher, the chief apiarist for the state of Ohio. They have been on-air with us several times. And I have since joined their organization as a volunteer. One of my first tasks was planting a 'food forest' in the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood of Dayton. ***Special thanks to the Home Depot & the Miami Valley School for donating supplies. Listen to an interview we did on 5/31 with Reed Johnson of The Ohio State University concerning these invaluable pollinators HERE 

Bees are the biggest pollinator of our food crops and without them the results would be disastrous. Grocers like Whole Foods realize the crisis at hand. Being the first recipient in Dayton of these funds is quite an honor and a sign that more needs to be done. Take a moment and walk into your yard and try to find bees on clover and other flowers - you will be shocked to find few if any whereas there used to be many. Look for other projects to help the bees & butterfly's here in the Gem City, and throughout the nation, on our radio show, which I might add offers six HOURS of programming every week, the most in the country.

It is hoped that the Buckeye Bee will not only be hardier but would also better equipped to kill the Varroa Mite, a parasite seen as the biggest reason for the bee die-off. Pesticides also are a contributing factor. In area's of the world that do not have wide use of insecticides applied on crops the die-off of pollinators is not as pronounced as it has been in the developed world. So working with local farmers is crucial. Finally the dominance of corn and soybean crops are part of the problem too. Those two vegetables do not need the bee, the plants literally pollinate themselves. What this is doing though is cutting off vast lands that were once filled with wild flowers, where the bees were able to find the food (nectar) they needed to sustain themselves. All of these are parts of the puzzle to helping our pollinators. 

In an unrelated issue which occurred in Montana, this STORY shows how far some are willing to get bees into their state for crop pollination and how serious things would be without the help of pollinators like the honey bee. The type of bee mentioned, a Russian bee, is sought after because it is bred to be more resistant to cold temperatures like those in Russia and also Montana as well as Dayton.

Checkout this article to find out more about the plight of our bees HERE 

This is the Dayton Daily News article that is in the story, linked above.

Read more: http://wone.iheart.com/onair/outdoor-connection-418/pollinator-fair-at-whole-foods-this-14847923/#ixzz4kt206AWP


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