Help a Pollinator -- And Help Horticulture!

By Lin Schmale, Senior Director, Government Relations Society of American Florist

The green industry has an important opportunity to step forward and help make a difference in the ongoing debate about pollinator health -- and at the same time, reinforce the positive impact that floral and nursery crops have on our landscape. 

The American Floral Endowment has joined SAF, AmericanHort and the Horticultural Research Institute in the Bee and Pollinator Stewardship Initiative, to encourage wise stewardship in nurseries and greenhouses, preserve neonicotinoids as a part of our toolbox, and encourage research that will lead to increased scientific knowledge, rather than emotional arguments. Learn more here.

Numerous studies have shown that health problems in bee populations are related to numerous factors, including the Varroa mite and associated viruses, genetics, nutrition, habitat loss, and pesticides. More research is needed both on the causes of the problem and on how our industry can help. Our Bee and Pollinator Stewardship Initiative is moving forward, and the industry-funded task force has agreed on five major research areas that will provide needed answers to questions like how and when pollinators interact with the plant material we sell, and steps our industry can take in easing some of the challenges pollinators face.

In another important new development, during the week of October 20, SAF joined AmericanHort to participate in the USDA Honeybee Forage Summit and the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) events, both held in Washington. Participation in those meetings resulted in increased communication, new partnerships, and the development of a research agenda bringing our organizations together with commercial beekeeping organizations, the American Seed Trade Association, and the Pollinator Partnership.

This increased communication will help us move toward our mutual goals of identifying plants for which growers might decide to be especially cautious with systemic and long-residual insecticides, and to help inform the public about which landscape plants they can purchase to help pollinators in their area. The need to increase bee habitat and improve nutrition are identified by most beekeepers as a prime concern, so we are hopeful that by working together, we will be able to move forward in a way that benefits both pollinators and environmental horticulture -- which, after all, are very logical partners.

But none of this will succeed without the support of our industry. Be part of the solution. Join us in this very important effort! The Bee and Pollinator Stewardship Initiative has three primary components: 

  1. Developing a bee and pollinator stewardship program
  2. Funding research that will help us answer key questions that support the stewardship program
  3. Spreading the word to our communities and customers about how this program has a positive impact on pollinators and still allows us to mitigate the spread of invasive pests that threaten our natural environment

YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED.  Go to http://endowment.org/bee-donate/ to Bee Part of the Solution!

 

 

 

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