Organic

      When you hear the word 'organic' you probably think of food. After all it seems only natural that if pesticides kill pests, they will be detrimental to our health as well, especially after years of eating trace amounts on our commercially grown fruits and vegetables. Organic, however refers not just to food, but to anything grown with fertilizers or pesticides of animal or vegetable origin, as opposed to manufactured chemicals.
Also, organic foods are by definition not subjected to chemical ripening, food irradiation, nor genetically modified.

Pesticides

      Manufactured chemicals do not just kill bugs in the treated area. Most of the sprayed pesticide will remain in the soil. It can remain in the plant itself, as with Merit. Merit is the chemical imidaclopridone, one of many neonicotinoids (a synthetic nicotine) which acts as a systemic pesticide, remaining in the plant itself. Studies have shown that bees will not avoid a field covered in bees, and anecdotal evidence shows that in the fall, bees that pollinate apple trees sprayed with Merit months prior will not be able to find their way back to their hive.

Colony Collapse Disorder

      When beekeepers first noticed CCD, people blamed everything from radiowaves to cell phone towers. 60 Minutes interviewed beekeeper David Hackenberg about the problem, but never aired his statements that the culprit is imidacloprid, plain and simple. Bees will leave the hive in the morning and never find their way back. The chemical will also shut down the bees immune system, so it will eventually die of a fungus or virus.

And Bayer Goes to the Bank

      After further study, however, it is certain that imidacloprid is causing bees to abandon their colonies. In the last three years, since products containing diazinon have been pulled from stores, the use of this chemical has skyrocketed. For Bayer, its two chemical pesticides, imidacloprid and clothianidin account for $1.25 billion in annual global sales. Nicotine based pesticides have been banned in France and Italy, and Germany is following suit, banning clothianidin. It is time for the United States to step up to our responsibility to the environment, as well as protect the future of our agriculture, and impliment bee-friendly organic practices.
If it does this to a bee, what is it doing to us?

What Can I Do?

      Buying local organic food is one way to support organic practices. If you want to help the bees themselves, you can have a bee friendly garden, or become a beekeeper.

Planting a Bee Friendly Garden

      Planting a bee friendly garden can help boost the native honeybee population. Herbs such as clover, lavender, jasmine, rosemary, thyme, and oregano, and flowers such as violets, sunflowers (particularly smaller varieties and in combination with other flowers from this family, Asteracae - but some varieties are pollinless), and coneflowers all belp with bee pollination and lead to increased population. Bees are attracted to a greater diversity of bee-friendly flowers.
Bees are also attracted to dandelions, poppies, catnip, horehound, russian sage, and scented geranium.