We are at serious risk of losing the bees now, and we need do something about it. I have a petition for the EPA in hopes they will take action.

Please sign my petition for the EPA. Click here.

Bee colonies are seriously threatened by the widespread use of pesticide-coated seeds currently used by farmers, particularly on corn and soy crops. These insecticides are called neonicotinoids. Studies show that bees are drawn to the nectar of neonicotinoid plants and become addicted to them in the same manner that humans become addicted to nicotine.

For this reason, bees become addicted to plants grown from these toxic seeds and gorge themselves on these plants, seeking them out and returning to them in the future. Because nectar is brought back to the hive by individual bees, neonicotinoid toxins are also brought back to the hive, where they spread to and kill the entire colony.

They achieve this by destroying the nervous systems of bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies. This has led to what scientists have dubbed “colony collapse disorder.”

Why should we care? Bees are important because we need them to pollinate food crops and wild plants. Bees are also an essential part of our economy as they pollinate over 15 billion dollars worth of crops a year. Some crops that won’t grow without honeybees include: apples, cucumbers, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, carrots, avocados, almonds, and many more. If we lose the honey bee our fragile web of life will be devastated, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has so far failed to aggressively seek out a solution.

The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that neonicotinoids don’t even increase crop yields, although that is the purported reason for their use in the first place.

In-depth studies from Purdue University (http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2012/120111KrupkeBees.html), Harvard University (http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/04/pesticide-tied-to-bee-colony-collapse/), and Oxford University, Trinity College Dublin, Newcastle University and Lund University (http://marketbusinessnews.com/bees-crave-neonicotinoid-pesticides-like-humans-with-nicotine/58089) concerning the danger and harm of neonicotinoids towards bees and other pollinators confirm that this is a grave concern.

Overwhelming research conducted on the effects these products have on the environment has led the European Union to presently ban the use of neonicotinoids across the entire continent of Europe. In the United States and Canada, seed-producing companies are allowed to make and sell seeds coated with this pesticide, which has been shown in numerous research studies to contribute to bee and bee colony deaths.

“We know that these insecticides are highly toxic to bees; we found them in each sample of dead and dying bees,” said Christian Krupke, associate professor of entomology at Purdue University and a co-author of the findings.

The United States is losing about one-third of its honeybee hives each year, according to Greg Hunt, a Purdue University professor of behavioral genetics, honeybee specialist, and co-author of the Purdue findings.

Hunt said no one particular factor is to blame for this loss, though scientists believe that other factors such as mites and insecticides are all working against the bees as well. “It’s like death by a thousand cuts for these bees,” Hunt said.”

In 2014, 37 million bees were found dead in Ontario, Canada after neonicotinoid-laced corn seeds were planted in the area. (http://naturalsociety.com/37-million-bees-found-dead-canada-large-gmo-crop-planting/).

“Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions,” stated Dave Schuit, a local honey producer. This catastrophe is a powerful sign of the harm these seeds affect on our environment.

Furthermore, the effects of these toxins are not limited to the fields where these crops are planted. Genetically engineered plants are able to escape into the wild, where they interbreed with natural plants and continue to spread throughout the environment. The repercussions of this are alarming for the future of our earth, the future of food, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.

“The bees we should also be concerned about are the “3,999 other bee species living in North America, most of which are solitary, stingless, ground-nesting bees you’ve never heard of. Incredible losses in native bee diversity are already happening.

50 percent of Midwestern native bee species disappeared from their historic ranges in the last 100 years. Four of our bumblebee species declined 96 percent in the last 20 years, and three species are believed to already be extinct. A little part of me despairs when I read in a scientific paper:

“This species probably should be listed under the Endangered Species Act if it still exists.” These bees nest in theground and when the neonicotinoid seeds were planted in the fields, the mason bees did not make one single nest.” (Source: http://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/)

“In watermelons, native bees do 90 percent of the pollination.

Native bees improve fruit production in apples. Native bee pollination creates twice as much fruit as honey bees in blueberries. In tomatoes, native bee species increase fruit production significantly.” (Source: http://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/)

How much evidence will it take before the EPA, or other companies involved, stop the use, and protect our fragile web of life? Bees and the future of our environment are in need of protection from these toxic and harmful poisons.

Given the enormous number of bee deaths already, the enormous amounts of neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seeds that are currently being planted, the fragile state of the bee colonies, and the mounting evidence showing neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seed is a danger to bee colonies, don’t you agree that the EPA should stop the manufacturing and planting of this toxic seed?

I move that the EPA ban the manufacturing, sale and use of these toxins, poisons and coated seeds in the United States.

Don’t you think companies should have an ethical and moral obligation to humanity to stop doing and promoting things that are proven to be harming the environment and humanity?

Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Crop Life America and Bayer all make these seeds and sell them. These companies apparently aren’t doing anything to halt this situation. Why? We need to ask ourselves this question. I pose a question:

Do you have investment money supporting companies that do this type of thing?

Is this the type of investment in your future, that will sustain the life of your children and their children?

If they are not voluntarily stopping their production, sale and use of seeds and toxins that have been shown to be doing harm to the environment, then isn’t it the responsibility of the EPA to make them stop harming the environment?

Please sign this petition and join me in helping to stop the use of toxins that are proven to be harmful to bees ( all types) and other pollinators (example: hummingbirds & butterflies), to the environment, and to the human population. These toxins put our fragile web of life in jeopardy.

Please sign my petition to ban and outlaw the manufacturing, sale and use of harmful neonicotinoid-coated seeds and pesticides by companies and farmers.

Click here to sign my petition.
Update! We have almost 200,000 supporters signatures! Let’s get 50,000 more! Please share this with your friends and family!

Even the federal court system is saying the EPA is wrong! (Source: http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/09/federal-court-nixes-epa-approval-pesticide-known-be-highly-toxic-honey-bees)

The EPA released a report saying that these poisons are the cause of catastrophic bee deaths, but yet they are still not making them illegal to make or use!

Here is a Canadian Report.

Please sign my petition. I am taking it to the USDA and wish to have as many signatures as possible.
Watch this!

Click Here to watch Maria Spivak on Ted Talks, talk about the bees.

Nancy Addison talks with Richard Kemp on the Farm & Ranch USA Report on KLGD 106.9fm, The Country Giant about the bees -Click Here to listen to the Radio Show Segment on the Bees.
Update Jan. 2019

I just received this update: “According to a 2017 report from the Center for Biological Diversity, nearly 1 in 4 pollinators are imperiled and at increasing risk of extinction.
What’s killing the bees?

Neonicotinoid pesticides, sold by Bayer, and used by Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) to pretreat seeds (which adds to the cost of the seeds, without providing any benefit).

It’s time to reintroduce the Save America’s Pollinators Act, a bill that would suspend the use of neonicotinoids and require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to complete a thorough assessment, and ensure that any uses of these insecticides do not cause unreasonable and adverse effects on pollinators. “
(Update quoted from Richard Kemp, with “KTRR Radio,“”KSAN Radio,” and “AmericasFarmReport.com “)

Please sign this petition and contact your congressperson and ask them to reintroduce this bill, support it, and help the nation’s pollinators, as well as other parts of our web-of-life, these neonicotinoid pesticides are killing.

The bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5015/text

I’d love to hear your comments!

The post Save Our Pollinators! appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.

Also, in addition to this, “an increasingly popular commercial corn, genetically engineered to produce a bacterial toxin to protect against corn pests, has an unwanted side effect: Its pollen kills monarch butterfly larvae in laboratory tests, according to a report by Cornell University researchers.”

Because of this situation, I suggest we all contribute food and habitat to the butterflies if we can!

In most places, the fall is the perfect time for planting your wildflowers, that are rich in nectar and absolutely gorgeous in the spring. You want to find a place in the yard or garden, that is not mowed over the winter. Mix the wildflower seeds with sand and then scatter the seeds in the area that is going to left to rest and be un mowed until the flowers are grown and completely finished with their blooms. The sand will help the seeds stay on the earth and not be blown away. I do this every year, in addition to my normal garden. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous in the spring, and make the environment fantastically healthy also. I use organic, non-toxic gardening methods.

Butterflies and frogs are indicator species that show how healthy our environment is. If our environment lacks these species, then we need to make it healthier and less toxic.

For this reason, I do three things I feel are vitally important for the health and well-being of my garden, I always plant flowers that attract pollinators. I also avoid using pesticides, and provide clean drinking water for all creatures, including the pollinators. Pollinators and birds are attracted to moving water and so I have a drip fountain in my birdbath. This moving water (from the ripples) also prevents mosquitoes from laying eggs and proliferating. (Note: You can buy little battery run “wigglers” that can be put in water dishes and bird-baths,  that work really well creating ripples.)

When I plant my garden every year, ususally in the sping, I plant organic, heirloom, non-GMO seeds, because they grow fragrant, pollen-rich, and nectar-rich flowers that will provide food for the pollinators without harming them, like the GMO and hybrid plants (flowers) do.

These will provide safe, nourishing food for butterflies and draw more pollinators to my vegetable, fruits, and herbs. This helps the plants produce more food, and it makes my garden more beautiful to be in.

This is now more important than ever, because many GMO plants and hybrid flowers like the “knock-out roses” have flowers that have no nectar. 

Four species of large bumble bees are now extinct because they quite literally starved to death due to enormous areas full of flowers lacking pollen. I try my best to support the pollinators in our web of life: bees, hummingbirds, dragonflies, bats, and butterflies. Link: https://www.organichealthylife.com/butterflies-and-bees-make-our-lives-so-much-healthier-beautiful/

These fragile creatures do so much for the health of our environment, but they need our support. If you care about this, buy plants for your garden or landscaping that are rich in fragrance, pollen, and nectar.

Organic, native heirloom plants are always best. Heirloom plants have been handed down from generation to generation of gardeners in a region, so they have proven to do well in a particular soil and temperature.

If you inter-plant some of the flowering plants with your hedgerows, you will provide additional forage for pollinators of all kinds.

Stagger your plantings so there is enough food throughout the year.

Here are seven outstanding, nectar-rich flowering plants that attract butterflies and pollinators to keep your garden lovely, fragrant and environmentally healthy!

Butterfly Bush. The butterfly bush is a shrub that produces flowers of white, yellow, pink, and purple. The flower clusters are up to 15 inches long and have a delicate scent that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden. They require partial shade to full sun, and they grow up to eight feet tall. They are deer-resistant. They bloom from midsummer to the first frost.

Butterfly Weed. The butterfly weed is a pest-free perennial wildflower which is great for saving time and money. Its beautiful flowers are orange, red, and yellow. They grow about three feet tall and bloom from spring to early fall. With full sunlight and enough water, this easy-to-grow plant will produce beautiful, nectar-rich flowers. Monarch butterfly larvae prefer this food.

Keys of Heaven. Keys of heaven are a brilliant scarlet red that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden. This bushy plant grows at least three feet tall and makes a lovely border. It needs full sun. It will grow in early midsummer in hotter climates, and it will bloom all summer in cooler climates.

Joe-Pye Weed. The Joe-Pye weed is a large plant with nectar-rich, pink flowers. It is a butterfly favorite. It can produce many seeds that you can replant in more areas of your garden.

Sunflowers. Sunflowers come in many varieties. They are extremely easy to grow and are incredibly rich with nectar. They will keep blooming all summer long until the first freeze. They will reseed if you allow them that freedom. The best part is that they will provide beautiful flowers for your home all summer long.

Asters. Asters are a perennial flower that brightens up late-summer and fall gardens with its star-shaped blooms. There are more than 175 species found in North America with a huge variety of colors to choose from. They smell divine.

Dragon Flower. The dragon flower is an easy-to-grow perennial with gorgeous white or cream-colored flowers. They are very nectar-rich and will attract a wonderful array of life to your garden. The Monarch butterfly is particularly fond of these flowers. If you plant them with dill, which the Monarch butterfly caterpillar loves, you have a fabulous combination to help the Monarch butterfly.

A few more plants to add are marigolds, zinnias, violets, lilies, red penstemon, and crocuses. You can grow berries in your garden, or herbs such as lavender, sage, parsley, and dill. Butterflies love dill for their caterpillars.

I have some of the most beautiful Monarch butterfly caterpillars in my garden when I plant dill amongst my flowers. You can also plant female yaupon holly, poplar trees, and redbud trees.

To make your garden non-toxic and healthier, stop using pesticides! Pesticides kill our pollinators, poison the environment, destroy vital nutrients in the soil and the food we grow, and can cause nerve damage to anyone exposed to them. Their runoff pollutes our water, too.

Avoid using pesticides in your yard or garden.

On the environmental side, the weed killer, glyphosate, has virtually wiped out milkweed in Midwest corn and soybean fields, a major factor in the dramatic 20-year decline of monarch butterflies that depend on milkweed for food and reproduction.

It’s also important to provide safe, clean drinking water for all the wildlife, including the pollinators. Every living creature needs water to survive.

I put a drip on my birdbath, so it has a ripple which is easy for pollinators and hummingbirds to see. The ripple also prevents mosquitoes from breeding in the water, because mosquitoes only lay eggs in still, standing water.

I also put water on the ground to help the local wild animals have enough water to drink. It’s a web of life, and I try to support all the precious parts of that web that God gave us.

With these organic, healthy gardening tips, I hope you have a healthy and lovely garden!

Over the last few decades, a handful of agrichemical giants have acquired 65% of the world’s seed supply, so I recommend buying organic seeds you like, in bulk, and keeping them for your own personal use. I buy them to use for growing my sprouts, which I put in my salads.

Here are a few organic, non-GMO seed companies I recommend:

Heirloom wildflower seeds for spring, that you plant in the fall!

http://heirloomseeds.com/flower-seeds-heirloom/wildflower-seeds-heirloom/texas-oklahoma-wildflower-mix.html

Heirloom Seeds

Heirloom, Organic, Non-GMO Garden Seeds – Salad, Salsa, Fruit, Herb, Vegetable – Collection of 16 Non-Hybrid, Open Pollinated Seeds: Zucchini, Kale, Beet, Tomato –

Mountain Valley Seed Company

$21.99

100% CERTIFIED ORGANIC NON-GMO Culinary Herb Set – 12 popular Easy-to-Grow Herb Seeds by Zziggysgal

$13.99

Heirloom Garden Vegetable Seeds NON GMO Easy Growers

Veganseeds

$15.95

*100% USDA Organic* Highest Quality Non GMO Herb Seeds – Elegantly Designed Variety Packets and Instructions For Home Cooks – Product of U.S.A. – HOME CHEF HERBS – Ideal For Indoor and Outdoor Growing – No Gardening Experience Required – Start NowHome Chef Herbs

$14.95

Herb Garden – Organic Herb Seeds – Non GMO, Heirloom, Non Hybrid – 10 Culinary Varieties Including Basil, Cilantro, Fennel, Parsley and More

Rebel Gardens

$15.99

Notes: I made a short organic gardening video if you wish to view it, click here.

copyright@nancyaddison2018

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The information from Nancy Addison and Organic Healthy Lifestyle LLC is not offered for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease or disorder nor have any statements herein been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We strongly encourage you to discuss topics of concern with your health care provider.

Medical Disclaimer: Information provided in this article, book, podcast, website, email, etc. is for informational purposes only. The information is a result of years of practice and experience by Nancy Addison CHC, AADP. However, this information is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional, or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging.

The post Fall Is The Time To Plant Wildflowers For The Butterflies In The Spring appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.

The post 53: Ban the Chemical that is Killing Our Bees appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.

Most of you know how much certain things mean to me, such as protecting our bees, safeguarding our environment, and living an organic lifestyle.

I am not that easily impressed, but there is a supermarket called Aldi, that is known for its low prices, and they have done something that is extraordinary.

Aldi is removing all products that contain neonicotinoid pesticides. (If you remember, I had a petition against the EPA to ban the manufacturing and use of neonicotinoid pesticides, because they are decimating the environment and killing the bees and butterflies. The EPA has still not banned them, even though the Federal Courts ruled that they should.

The EPA has even admitted knowing that the following poisons are the major reason the bee populations are being destroyed:

*Chlorpyrifos

*Clothianidin

*Cypermethrin

*Deltamethrin

*Fipronil

*Imidacloprid

*Sulfoxaflor

*Thiamethoxam

Aldi is not only doing this environmentally-positive action of removing all products that contain the neonicotinoid pesticides, but they are also committing their Aldi grocery stores to be all organic by May 1, 2017.

Hooray for this ethical company that is doing the right thing for all of us.

They are a no-frills store with positive goals and reasonable prices, which may make organic food affordable for everyone.

I’m giving them my gold star of approval.

Here is the link to read my information about the bees, the neonicotinoids and the environment.

http://www.organichealthylifestyle.com/the-plight-of-pollinators-today/

Special Note:

Also be aware as you are buying plants for your garden this spring, that the plants and fruit trees, etc. may have these toxic poisons in them. Ask your nursery to be sure.

One way to order organic plants without toxins, is to order them online from a respected company like Seeds of Change, an organic seed and plant company.

The post Aldi Stops Selling Products That Contain Neonicotinoid Pesticides And Is Going Organic appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.

Radio show host, Nancy Addison talks w/ artist Matthew Willey, of “The Good of the Hive” Initiative, committed to personally painting 50,000 honeybees – the number necessary for a healthy, thriving hive – in murals across the US. Through art and social media engagement, The Good of the Hive raises awareness about the current struggle of the honeybees, celebrates their amazing behaviors, & draws attention to the inextricable connection between people & honeybees.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The amazing benefits of bees to the environment
• Role of bees in food production

Resources:

The post 15: The Bees, The Environment And Art appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.

Then I thought about the roses that people are planting now, (called “knock out roses”) that have NO nectar, and thus are starving our precious pollinators to death.

And I also thought about Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Crop Life America and Bayer, who are all making insecticides called neonicotinoids, that are decimating the pollinator populations by poisoning them to death.

Monsanto and Dow also are now producing new milkweed-killing herbicides, and these will destroy our monarch butterfly populations. Milkweed is their favorite food and vital to their survival.  What would a world be without butterflies? Why are they poisoning their food supply? They are such fragile creatures and how much hardship can they take?

Please join in and help stop this annihilation of our precious web of life.

This is very serious.  I appreciate everyone who has signed my  petition to stop these poisonous neonicotinoids.  I am asking for your assistance now to contact everyone you know to please take a moment and sign this petition.  Please help me reach my goal of 250,000 signatures, which I feel we need in order to get the EPA’s attention.  Right now, we are at 137,000 signatures.

It is so important that everything we do each day helps to sustain and heal and nourish the environment, not destroy it.

If you know anyone who has roses, please inform them about the knock-out roses, that are devoid of nectar.  Butterflies are attracted to them, and when they get there, there is no food.   All that is needed is a little research, to find the best roses to plant that will provide food and nectar for our pollinators.

I contacted Texas A & M University (where I studied landscape architecture and where these roses were developed) more than a few times and they said there is no research to show how this is affecting the environment.  But from my own studies, the large bumblebees were becoming extinct over 27 years ago (3- 4 species are now extinct) from the plants with no nectar (many are GMO and some are hybrid like the knock –out roses) causing them to starve to death. These knock-out roses are now planted all over urban environments in enormous quantities and areas.

I think universities and companies also need to do environmental impact studies on all of their new technologies. At this time, there are no requirements for these at any of the schools that I know of.  I think it would be wise for all universities or schools to require courses on environmental impact for all of their engineers, chemists, inventors, etc. as part of their curriculum. I also feel it would be prudent for universities and companies to be required to preform environmental and health impact studies on all of their inventions and chemicals they are proposing to use. We are all so closely intertwined with each other and what we do does impact the earth and all of it’s inhabitants.

Just a thought.

Thank you sincerely for helping to add to our signatures, because by making more people aware, our world will become a healthier place in which to live.

Sign My Petition Today- Click Here

Also, look at what is happening with Monsanto!

https://fdn.actionkit.com/donate/Monsantos_stock_is_Falling_help_push_them_off_the_cliff/?t=3&akid=1679.129696.jRuKlD

The post Bees and Butterflies Make Our Lives More Beautiful And So Much Healthier appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.

The Plight Of The Pollinator

The intricate web of life,  on this planet, depends on every aspect of life, all the way down to the fragile bee. Every part of this web has a particular role on the earth, and when one element of this web is removed, it starts a downward spiral effect which is difficult to foresee and which can be catastrophic. We are at serious risk of losing the bees now, and we need do something about it. I have a petition for the EPA in hopes they will take action.

Please sign my petition for the EPA. Click here.

Bee colonies are seriously threatened by the widespread use of pesticide-coated seeds currently used by farmers, particularly on corn and soy crops. These insecticides are called neonicotinoids. Studies show that bees are drawn to the nectar of neonicotinoid plants and become addicted to them in the same manner that humans become addicted to nicotine. For this reason, bees become addicted to plants grown from these toxic seeds and gorge themselves on these plants, seeking them out and returning to them in the future. Because nectar is brought back to the hive by individual bees, neonicotinoid toxins are also brought back to the hive, where they spread to and kill the entire colony. They achieve this by destroying the nervous systems of bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies. This has led to what scientists have dubbed “colony collapse disorder.”

Why should we care? Bees are important because we need them to pollinate food crops and wild plants. Bees are also an essential part of our economy as they pollinate over 15 billion dollars worth of crops a year. Some crops that won’t grow without honeybees include: apples, cucumbers, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, carrots, avocados, almonds, and many more. If we lose the honey bee our fragile web of life will be devastated, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has so far failed to aggressively seek out a solution. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that neonicotinoids don’t even increase crop yields, although that is the purported reason for their use in the first place.

In-depth studies from Purdue University (http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2012/120111KrupkeBees.html), Harvard University (http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/04/pesticide-tied-to-bee-colony-collapse/), and Oxford University, Trinity College Dublin, Newcastle University and Lund University (http://marketbusinessnews.com/bees-crave-neonicotinoid-pesticides-like-humans-with-nicotine/58089) concerning the danger and harm of neonicotinoids towards bees and other pollinators confirm that this is a grave concern.  Overwhelming research conducted on the effects these products have on the environment has led the European Union to presently ban the use of neonicotinoids across the entire continent of Europe. In the United States and Canada, seed-producing companies are allowed to make and sell seeds coated with this pesticide, which has been shown in numerous research studies to contribute to bee and bee colony deaths.

“We know that these insecticides are highly toxic to bees; we found them in each sample of dead and dying bees,” said Christian Krupke, associate professor of entomology at Purdue University and a co-author of the findings.

The United States is losing about one-third of its honeybee hives each year, according to Greg Hunt, a Purdue University professor of behavioral genetics, honeybee specialist, and co-author of the Purdue findings. Hunt said no one particular factor is to blame for this loss, though scientists believe that other factors such as mites and insecticides are all working against the bees as well. “It’s like death by a thousand cuts for these bees,” Hunt said.”

In 2014, 37 million bees were found dead in Ontario, Canada after neonicotinoid-laced corn seeds were planted in the area. (http://naturalsociety.com/37-million-bees-found-dead-canada-large-gmo-crop-planting/). “Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions,” stated Dave Schuit, a local honey producer. This catastrophe is a powerful sign of the harm these seeds affect on our environment.

Furthermore, the effects of these toxins are not limited to the fields where these crops are planted. Genetically engineered plants are able to escape into the wild, where they interbreed with natural plants and continue to spread throughout the environment. The repercussions of this are alarming for the future of our earth, the future of food, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.

“The bees we should also be concerned about are the “3,999 other bee species living in North America, most of which are solitary, stingless, ground-nesting bees you’ve never heard of. Incredible losses in native bee diversity are already happening. 50 percent of Midwestern native bee species disappeared from their historic ranges in the last 100 years. Four of our bumblebee species declined 96 percent in the last 20 years, and three species are believed to already be extinct. A little part of me despairs when I read in a scientific paper: “This species probably should be listed under the Endangered Species Act if it still exists.” These bees nest in the  ground and when the neonicotinoid seeds were planted in the fields, the mason bees did not make one single nest.” Source of quote: (Source: http://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/)

“In watermelons, native bees do 90 percent of the pollination.
Native bees improve fruit production in apples. Native bee pollination creates twice as much fruit as honey bees in blueberries. In tomatoes, native bee species increase fruit production significantly.” (Source: http://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/)

How much evidence will it take before the EPA, or other companies involved, stop the use, and protect our fragile web of life? Bees and the future of our environment are in need of protection from these toxic and harmful poisons. Given the enormous number of bee deaths already, the enormous amounts of neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seeds that are currently being planted, the fragile state of the bee colonies, and the mounting evidence showing neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seed is a danger to bee colonies, don’t you agree that the EPA should stop the manufacturing and planting of this toxic seed?

I move that the EPA ban the manufacturing, sale and use of these toxins, poisons and coated seeds in the United States.

Don’t you think companies should have a ethical and moral obligation to humanity to stop doing and promoting things that are proven to be harming the environment and humanity? Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Crop Life America and Bayer all make these seeds and sell them. These companies apparently aren’t doing anything to halt this situation. Why? We need to ask ourselves this question. I pose a question: Do you have investment money supporting companies that do this type of thing?  Is this the type of investment in your future, that will sustain the life of your children and their children?

If they are not voluntarily stopping their production, sale and use of seeds and toxins that have been shown to be doing harm to the environment, then isn’t it the responsibility of the EPA to make them stop harming the environment?

Please sign this petition and join me in helping to stop the use of toxins that are proven to be harmful to bees ( all types) and other pollinators (example: hummingbirds & butterflies), to the environment, and to the human population. These toxins put our fragile web of life in jeopardy.

Please sign my petition to ban and outlaw the manufacturing, sale and use of harmful neonicotinoid coated seeds and pesticides by companies and farmers.

Click here to sign my petition.

Even the federal court system is saying the EPA is wrong!

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/09/federal-court-nixes-epa-approval-pesticide-known-be-highly-toxic-honey-bees

The EPA just released a report saying that these poisons are the cause of catastrophic bee deaths, but yet they are still not making them illegal to make or use!  Click here to read the EPA report.

Please sign my petition. I am taking it to the USDA and wish to have as many signatures as possible.

Watch this!  Click Here to watch Maria Spivak on Ted Talks, talk about the bees.

Nancy Addison  talks with Richard Kemp on the Farm & Ranch USA Report

KLGD 106.9fm, The Country Giant about the bees –  Click Here to listen to the Radio Show Segment on the Bees.

Update Jan. 2019

I just received this update: “According to a 2017 report from the Center for Biological Diversity, nearly 1 in 4 pollinators are imperiled and at increasing risk of extinction.

What’s killing the bees? 

Neonicotinoid pesticides, sold by Bayer, and used by Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) to pretreat seeds (which adds to the cost of the seeds, without providing any benefit).

It’s time to reintroduce the Save America’s Pollinators Act, a bill that would suspend the use of neonicotinoids and require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to complete a thorough assessment and ensure that any uses of these insecticides do not cause unreasonable and adverse effects on pollinators. “

(Update quoted from Richard Kemp, with “KTRR Radio,”  “KSAN Radio,” and “The Farm And Ranch Report,”)

Please sign this petition and contact your congressperson and ask them to reintroduce this bill, support it and help the nation’s pollinators, as well as other parts of our web of life, these neonicotinoid pesticides are killiing.

The bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5015/text

I’d love to hear your comments!

The post The Plight Of Pollinators appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.

When the early English colonists arrived in North America, the only apple tree they found was crab apple. However, there are now over 7,000 varieties growing in the US. The colonists brought many seeds and seedlings with them over the years, but the first apple trees the colonists brought didn’t bear much fruit, because there were no honeybees in North America. The colonists started bringing over hives of honeybees as early as 1622 to pollinate the trees.

A New York Publication in 1670 stated: “You shall scarce see a house, but the South side is begirt with Hives of Bees. The Native Americans loved the new apples that the colonists brought with them and cultivated them extensively throughout the US.

The apple is one of the most nutritious foods with remedies dating back to the earliest times of history. The apple is a member of the rose family and the blossom looks very much like a wild rose. One medium apple, fresh, raw, and with the skin, has high levels of vitamin C, potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, boron, and folate. All of those nutrients are packed into a small fruit with only 81 calories. Boron is a trace element, which has been shown to strengthen bones.

Pectin is a soluble fiber in apples which removes cholesterol, toxic metals such as lead and mercury, and the residues of radiation. In addition, the fiber content of one apple is equivalent to a serving of bran cereal. The malic and tartaric acid found in apples inhibits growth of disease-producing bacteria in the intestinal tract.

The American Cancer Association says that the apple is a lung strengthening food and can lower the incidence of lung cancer, while studies have also shown that the liver and gallbladder benefit from the cleansing properties of the apple and apple juice. Furthermore, the antioxidant phytonutrients found in apples helps fight the damaging effects of LDL, which we know as bad cholesterol.

The physical benefits of apples have also been noted. A poultice of grated apples placed over the eyes for up to 20 to 30 minutes can help with swelling, sunburn, and “pink eye.”

This simple recipe is much like the Waldorf Salad recipe I learned from my mother. This recipe makes a great light lunch to pack for school or work.

Recipe

Apple Salad

Salad Ingredients:

3 large red apples cored and cut into bite size pieces.
2/3-cup pineapple (fresh is the best choice) crushed or cut into cubes.
1/ 3 cup celery, diced
3 Tablespoons Raisins
3 Tablespoon pecan pieces

Dressing Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons plain yogurt
2 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon pineapple juice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the salad ingredients.

In a small bowl mix together the dressing ingredients and then mix the dressing in with the fruit.

Variations I add grapes to this salad when available. Walnuts can be used instead of pecans.

For more information go to: www.organichealthylifestyle.com

You may like to see Nancy’s international award-winning cookbooks on her author page on Amazon.

copyright@nancyaddison2012.

The post Apple Salad Recipe With Crisp Fresh Apples of the Autumn Harvest appeared first on Organic Healthy Life - Nancy Addison - Nutrition.