Cheerios launched a campaign in an attempt to save bees, yet the scientific world disapproved it.
The year of 2017 marked a sad premiere among wildlife. The U.S. declared the rusty patched bumblebees as endangered species for the first time. During the last two decades, the population of such pollinators declined by 87%. The news preceded another wave of bee species that required protection according to the Endangered Species Act. These were seven species of bees from Hawaii. In an effort to save bees, Cheerios started a wildflower seed giveaway.
Why It Is Important to Save Bees
If bees go extinct, it will not be just a great loss for nature, but for humans as well. They are the ones that help almost 75% of crops to be ready for harvest. Their aid has an annual economic value of up to $577 billion for U.S. alone. Since the year of 1961, farmers focused more on crops that depend on pollinators than others. These require easier maintenance and have greater stability in yield than other types of crops. In today’s world, 70 out of top 100 worldwide crops rely on bees. Basically, they provide 90% of the world’s food.
If bees go, many other delightful things will go with them. Without their daily work, foods such as almonds, apples, avocados, and oranges might disappear from the face of the Earth. Besides the array of delightful flavors, this loss will deepen the food crisis the world is currently struggling with.
Seeds Selected for Cheerios Campaign May Be Too Invasive
Cheerios is one company that wanted to create a life-saving campaign. Thus, the organization used its Buzz mascot as the main character that shared 1.5 billion wildflower seeds with its clients. While the strategy had a positive intention to save bees, the scientific world disapproves this initiative.
Some of the distributed packages contain seeds that create invasive species that may damage certain areas. The United States climate is described as diverse. Thus, it is dangerous to rely on random plantations for the act to save bees.
For instance, the Cheerios campaign gave away seeds of forget-me-nots. These plants are actually banned in Massachusetts. This is because they received the classification of the noxious weed. Moving forward, the Californian poppy provides another sensitive issue. The Southeastern states view this plant as invasive and not good for their crops.
The biggest issue concerning the Cheerios campaign is that most of the selected seeds are not even native to America. As the population of bees seeks only certain types of pollenizers, the buzzing insects would not receive much help from this campaign.
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