A Local Massachusetts Bumble Bee Is Endangered!

When you see a bee do you swat it? Run from it? Or let it peacefully do its job. I hope you picked the latter. Yes, so bees sting, but bees are also incredibly important to the environment and their numbers are declining by 30 percent each year. Do you know why bees are so important to us? They are largely responsible for our food supply. That’s not exactly something we can do without. The US Fish and Wildlife lists the Rusty patch bumblebee on its endangered list. The Rusty patch is indigenous to Massachusetts and losing it would do damage to our environment.

THE IMPORTANCE OF POLLINATORS IN AGRICULTURE

According to onegreenplanet.org, 2% of the bee population is responsible for 80 of our global agriculture, so if a small part of that bee population disappears a large part of our agricultural system will crash. Pollinators are necessary for 70% of the 100 top foods grown globally. Without bees, there would be no apples, oranges, cranberries, avocados, almonds… can you imagine?

And it’s not just the humans that would suffer. Plants rely on bees, animals rely on plants, flowers rely on bees… they are part of the circle of life. All of this contributes to the economy as well. In fact, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that the bee’s contribution to crops equals 4.2 trillion dollars to the global economy. Amazing to believe that such a tiny thing has such an incredible impact.

HOW DO WE SAVE THE RUSTY PATCH BEE?

Climate change and habitat loss are a factor in the loss of bee population, but neither are the largest contributing factor.  Neonicotinoid pesticides used on farms are killing our bees at the fastest pace. At Mosquito Squad of North Shore, we understand the importance of the bees. None of our products contain neonicotinoids, and while our job is to mist for mosquitoes and ticks, we make sure to keep the bees in mind all along the way. Our technicians are trained to never mist open blooms, to keep an eye out for bees and their hives, and overall to care about and care for bees. When you are planning to eliminate the ticks and mosquitoes in your yard, remember that you can trust Mosquito Squad not to harm the bees. Call us today!