One environmentalist says not enough is being done to address bee populations, which have been declining for decades.
Daniel Raichel with the Natural Resources Defence Council says the main reasons can be traced to pesticides, loss of habitat and climate change.
“We’re recording the highest winter losses for honey bees ever,” said Raichel. “Those are an indicator species — that’s kind of the canary in the coal mine.”
Raichel notes 75 per cent of plants require animal pollinators such as bees to thrive.
He said new pesticides introduced a decade ago are proving lethal to bees.
“That’s almost exactly the same time that you see widespread use of these neonic pesticides across the country,” Raichel said. “That’s use in agriculture, home gardens, use on golf courses.”
Earlier this year, Health Canada announced it would restrict some uses of neonicotinoids.
