{"id":14560,"date":"2017-04-19T12:56:33","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T16:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/?p=14560\/"},"modified":"2024-11-01T16:40:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T20:40:40","slug":"bee-cause-we-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Bee Cause We Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charity Spotlight: This blog post is part of our charity spotlight series and was provided by Beatrice Olivastri, Chief Executive Officer at Friends of the Earth Canada.<\/h4>\n

My name is Bea and I\u2019m on a mission to save the bees. My grandfather was a farmer and beekeeper, and throughout my childhood I rambled around the farm, hid in woodlots, chased the chickens and investigated streams. Five gallon pails of honey and homemade sauerkraut made the trek home with me after each visit, and it is during these trips where I developed my immense love for bees.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There are over 20,000 species of bees in the world with new species being discovered all the time. Canada has over 825 species of bees, and more than 40 species are bumblebees. While I\u2019ll always care about honey bees, a species imported from Europe specifically for honey production, Canada\u2019s wild, native bees are the most important bees and, with so little known about them, need our attention.<\/p>\n

Bees Are Keystone Species<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The scale is immense – nearly 90 percent of the world\u2019s 352,000 wild flowering plant species depend on pollinators like bees to transfer pollen in order to successfully reproduce. More than 75 percent of leading global crops benefit from animal pollination in production, yield and quality, and this pollination \u201cservice\u201d is provided mainly by bees – more than 90 percent of the time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Humans are Threatening Bees <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Human activity, especially industrial agriculture and its dependence on pesticides\u2014 including neonicotinoids\u2014threatens pollinators, their abundance, diversity, and health. Because of this, the ability for bees to provide essential pollination is threatened.<\/p>\n

Neonicotinoid (neonics) pesticides are especially worrisome because they are attach themselves to plants. Neonics get inside plants, making nectar and pollen toxic to bees. The toxins then last in soil and water for months or even years on end. Even low levels of exposure can decrease bees\u2019 abilities to forage, navigate, and communicate. The pesticides hinder their memory, suppress their immune systems and increase their vulnerability to disease and pests. Some neonicotinoids can be even 5,000 to 10,000 more acutely toxic to bees than DDT.<\/p>\n

Through our advocacy efforts, our work has paid off in Ontario. In 2015, the province became the first government in North America to permanently reduce the use of neonics in agriculture.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also tested flowering plants from big box stores for their level of neonic contamination.\u00a0 In 2014, more than half contained harmful levels of neonics. In 2015 Canadian samples, we saw the same. We have asked for gardeners to help by insisting on neonic-free plants, and major gardening centres and retailers are responding, but it\u2019s too early to say we\u2019ve won for the bees.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we\u2019ve gone to court to argue that a number of pesticides containing two neonicotinoid active ingredients (Clothianidin and Thiamethoxam) are unlawfully registered. We expect hearings to take place in 2017.<\/p>\n

I learned from Canada\u2019s wild bee guru, Dr. Laurence Packer, that my backyard is an important sanctuary for wild, native bees. He\u2019s counted up to 35 species of wild bees in his.\u00a0 We launched our Let It Bee<\/em> campaign to change gardening and landscape practices harmful to wild, native bees by calling on Canadians to sign the pledge to make their homes bee friendly. Through this pledge, Canadians have promised to provide homes for bees by leaving old stems, sticks and decaying wood; leaving sunny areas of ground mulch-free so they can burrow; and plant at least three flowering native plants to provide nectar and pollen in spring, summer and fall. We also offer advice through our Bee & Bee<\/em> program to welcome and protect wild, native bees in backyards by providing tips and advice to homeowners through educational resources.<\/p>\n

Actions are Needed to Save the Bees \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a Canadian charity, Friends of the Earth Canada works with counterparts in 75 countries around the world under the Friends of the Earth International network. \u00a0Sharing bee research findings and public education resources among our counterparts in the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany is a valuable way to be effective with every donor dollar we spend. In addition to bees, Friends of the Earth Canada advocates for environmental protection\u00a0 across Canada, and around the world.<\/p>\n

As for the bees, we are using every technique I\u2019ve learned in the last 30 years to save this important keystone species bee<\/em>cause we care about the bees and all of the ecosystem services these species provide. Just banning the pesticides isn\u2019t enough\u2014we have to work together to restore wild bee habitat and ensure no new threats arise through regulation, research, corporate responsibility, and public participation.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Friends of the Earth Canada, or to make a donation, visit Friends of the Earth\u2019s <\/strong>Charity Profile Page<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charity Spotlight: This blog post is part of our charity spotlight series and was provided by Beatrice Olivastri, Chief Executive Officer at Friends of the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1079,1075,1078,179,716,563,1076,1077],"class_list":["post-14560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-connecting-with-charities","tag-agriculture","tag-bees","tag-bumblebees","tag-charity-spotlight","tag-earth-day","tag-environment","tag-friends-of-the-earth-canada","tag-keystone-species"],"acf":{"meta_description":"","author_bio":false,"date_to_display":true},"yoast_head":"\nBee Cause We Care | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bee Cause We Care | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Charity Spotlight: This blog post is part of our charity spotlight series and was provided by Beatrice Olivastri, Chief Executive Officer at Friends of the ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-19T16:56:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-01T20:40:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Blogger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Blogger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest Blogger\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/40bdca2b7c5406486c9b0471788a8870\"},\"headline\":\"Bee Cause We Care\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-19T16:56:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-01T20:40:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/\"},\"wordCount\":793,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"agriculture\",\"Bees\",\"bumblebees\",\"Charity Spotlight\",\"Earth Day\",\"Environment\",\"Friends of the Earth Canada\",\"keystone species\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Connecting with Charities\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/\",\"name\":\"Bee Cause We Care | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-19T16:56:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-01T20:40:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bee Cause We Care\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada\",\"description\":\"Giving Made Simple\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CanadaHelps\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/canadahelps-en.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/canadahelps-en.jpg\",\"width\":131,\"height\":72,\"caption\":\"CanadaHelps\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/40bdca2b7c5406486c9b0471788a8870\",\"name\":\"Guest Blogger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5fa95ec05690a7da809871677fb32d899f033bce9815473dca43edd0960a3dbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5fa95ec05690a7da809871677fb32d899f033bce9815473dca43edd0960a3dbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Blogger\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/author\/guestblogger\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bee Cause We Care | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bee Cause We Care | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada","og_description":"Charity Spotlight: This blog post is part of our charity spotlight series and was provided by Beatrice Olivastri, Chief Executive Officer at Friends of the ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/","og_site_name":"CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada","article_published_time":"2017-04-19T16:56:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-01T20:40:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest Blogger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Blogger","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest Blogger","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/40bdca2b7c5406486c9b0471788a8870"},"headline":"Bee Cause We Care","datePublished":"2017-04-19T16:56:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-01T20:40:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/"},"wordCount":793,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg","keywords":["agriculture","Bees","bumblebees","Charity Spotlight","Earth Day","Environment","Friends of the Earth Canada","keystone species"],"articleSection":["Connecting with Charities"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/","url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/","name":"Bee Cause We Care | CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg","datePublished":"2017-04-19T16:56:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-01T20:40:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/Featured-Image-7.jpg","width":800,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/giving-life\/connecting-with-charities\/bee-cause-we-care\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bee Cause We Care"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/","name":"CanadaHelps - Donate to any charity in Canada","description":"Giving Made Simple","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#organization","name":"CanadaHelps","url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/canadahelps-en.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/media\/canadahelps-en.jpg","width":131,"height":72,"caption":"CanadaHelps"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/40bdca2b7c5406486c9b0471788a8870","name":"Guest Blogger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5fa95ec05690a7da809871677fb32d899f033bce9815473dca43edd0960a3dbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5fa95ec05690a7da809871677fb32d899f033bce9815473dca43edd0960a3dbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Blogger"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/author\/guestblogger\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14560"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14618,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14560\/revisions\/14618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadahelps.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}