About

Bees have a bigger impact in the world then most people would think, without bees we wouldnt have many fruits or vegetables. You may think of bees as annoying, stinging pests that are hostile all the time or as friendly pollinators. What ever you think, bees play a major role in the world. They do so much that some people don't know. There are over 20,000 types of bees in the world, 3,500 of them in the USA alone, and we have to take care of them. 

How We Help 

We at the Woodside Montessori Middle School advocate for a bill in the Massachusetts State House that would limit the use of neonicotinoids and make it harder for people to apply them. Thousands of bees are harmed by pesticides and insecticides, one of the most commonly used insecticides is called a neonicotinoid. When a bee is exposed to neonicotiniods it gets confused and cannot find its way back to its hive.  The bill we support would limit the use of neonicotinoids only to trained professionals who would only put the necessary amount and under specific conditions to limit the damage to not just bees but other pollinators. 

Each year the Middle School supports the work of the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association by traveling with them to the Massachusetts State House for Massachusetts Agriculture on the Hill Day - a day for the agricultural industry of Massachusetts to show off their products and promote bills of interest to them. The class designs a unique label for that year's event and visits the offices of representatives and senators to deliver the honey and ask for their support of the bill. 

How You Can Help

You can help by doing many things. One thing you can do is have a pollinator friendly garden. By having a pollinator friendly garden bees, and other pollinators, have a place to collect nectar from in order to store it as honey and prepare for the winter. Another thing you can do is not spray pesticides and insecticides on your yard, this it allows for bees and other pollinators to go on your yard and pollinate the flowers or other plants you may have on your yard. 
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If you would like to learn more about what you can do to help bees and other pollinators, we recommend that you visit the National Environmental Education Foundation.