All they are saying is give bees a chance

Vespa has launched a campaign to help the group Environment Canada credits as responsible for $1 billion worth of fruits and vegetables annually. Farmers? Guess again.

The answer is bees, wasps, butterflies and other pollinators, which all play a key role in our food supply and ecosystem.

Disappearing pollinators
Nearly 30 percent of Canada’s bee colonies were killed off last winter -- twice the normal rate, says the Canadian Honey Council. In the U.S., colony collapse disorder afflicted over 50 percent of commercial colonies. In 2008 to date, losses in Canadian commercial beekeeping operations are approximately 1.75 times greater than long-term trends.

We are in serious trouble without our bees. Not only are they the only insects that produce food for humans, they pollinate more than 100 crops as well as 90 percent of all flowering plants. We couldn’t begin to duplicate the work accomplished by bees; every bee makes 10 or more flights per day and each flight lasts more than one hour, visiting between 50 to 100 flowers.

Joining hives
Recognizing their vital importance, Vespa Canada and Environmental Defence announced a program that’s sure to generate buzz. For the rest of 2008, whenever a Vespa scooter is sold, Vespa Canada will make a donation to Environmental Defence to support the development of bee pollinator habitats.

Setting the standard
The program comes at a critical time, says Dr. Rick Smith, Executive Director of Environmental Defence, a group that spearheads legal and public education campaigns safeguarding the environment and human health.

“With climate change the most important issue facing us today, Canadians are looking for corporate leaders to step up and do their part,” said Smith. “By helping to tackle climate change and protect the places that bees, wasps and other pollinators need to survive, Vespa is setting a tremendous example for other Canadian companies to follow.”

Jeremy Logan, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Vespa Canada, says he hopes the pollinator habitat campaign, besides providing needed funds, will raise awareness of the issue. Vespa dealers across Canada will also plant new pollinator habitats during “green weekends”, to be coordinated with local environmental organizations.

Reducing the Vespa impact
At the same time as the announcement of support for their bee friends (“Vespa” is Italian for wasp); Vespa Canada launched what it’s calling Canada’s first national carbon neutral driving program, in partnership with the Carbon Reduction Fund.

Vespa will offset every scooter sold by Canadian dealers in 2008 but purchasing three years’ worth of verified offsets from the not-for-profit Carbon Reduction Fund.
The Fund’s mission is help organizations committed to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by offering them a chance to increase energy efficiency and invest in renewable energy sources.

“I can’t see why another vehicle manufacturer couldn’t follow suit,” said Ivan Champagne, Managing Director of the Toronto-based Carbon Reduction Fund. “We’d love to talk to any manufacturer who would like to do the same.”

Read more about bees in Healing from the hive.

Stuart Foxman is a Toronto based freelance writer who likes honey.


Tags: bats, bees, honey, pollinatorstag cloud.