Show Pollinators Love This Week

Many garden centers, including Home Depot and Lowe's, have been selling plants to gardeners to attract bees, which is a great thing, but unfortunately, many of the plants may inadvertently harm the bees by delivering what's called sub-lethal effects.  This term means that the bees (and other pollinators) won't be killed right away, but their neurological and immune systems will be affected, resulting in the loss of abilities to navigate, learn, and inability to fend off illnesses and parasites. 

One class of pesticide is especially under scrutiny, and it is the neonicontinoid class (or neonics).  The plants for sale at these retailers (or any nursery) could have been treated with these systemic pesticides (the pesticide makes its way into every part of the plant, even into the pollen, etc). These pesticides remain in the plant for a long time and even make their way into the soil into which the plant
was put.

Join BeyondPesticide's campaign to "swarm" the chain stores and encourage them to use their powers in a positive way, a way that protects important pollinators (bees and butterflies) instead of harming them.

We should be asking them to ensure that plants are clearlly labelled with what pesticides were used in growing them and if a plant is being sold as pollinator-friendly, it should be certified as so.  Employees often have no idea what pesticides were used by the growers.

Thank you for caring.