“Eight years ago, the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture signs the proclamation every year. This year’s Pollinator Week will take place June 15-21, and the Pollinator Partnership has been contacting every governor’s office in America to request a state proclamation in support of the federal observance.
 
We already have 15 signed proclamations and many more on their way from governors across the U.S. We still need the support of in-state individuals and organizations from ALABAMA, ALASKA, KANSAS, LOUISIANA, NEW YORK, and SOUTH DAKOTA. If you or someone you know is from any of these states, please ask them to submit a proclamation request online or call their governor’s office to voice their support for Pollinator Week 2015. Feel free to use the sample proclamation text available at http://pollinator.org/npw_action.htm. Please see the relevant contact information below.” – Pollinator Partnership 2015

 

I love that the United States has designated a National Pollinator Week. Even more, I would love if it also meant we are each taking active steps in helping to save our beloved pollinators with our actions everyday. Planting a pesticide free garden is the easiest and likely the best way to become a part of this practice. Speaking with our children and grandchildren about the habits, gifts and beauty of various pollinators is a wonderful practice they will enjoy – and one which will nurture future protection for them. I hold a particular passion for our honeybees; though each of our pollinators are indeed at risk. The honeybee however, provides us with so many of the fruits and vegetables we eat on a daily basis it feels paramount for us to be acting on their behalf now. Notice I used the word “our” rather than “the” when referring to honeybee. They are indeed ours to care for – ours to protect. They belong to each of us. They feed each of us daily. To ignore their plight may be akin to ignoring our mothers and fathers. The fact that they are so small allows us to easily completely take them for granted and forget all about the miraculous work they do on our behalf.

 

We can also learn a great deal about these incredible workers and allow them to offer us some deep and warm inspiration regarding the blessings of working in community. Their habits, their vision, their language, their tenacity are each profoundly amazing and inspiring attributes. Read more here.

 

Several years ago I created a bronze vessel specifically on behalf of protecting our honeybees: Nature’s Bounty. It is a very small piece, not unlike the honeybee. Amidst a field of white clover, one solitary honeybee visits the clover – one tiny (and difficult to find without intention) honeybee symbolic of how easy it is for us to overlook them in nature as well. The textural base of the piece was created using actual honeycomb from a hive of bees my brother tends on our family farm in PA. Each time we sell a Nature’s Bounty from the studio, we donate a portion (between 10 and 30%) of the sale to one of the organizations helping support our pollinators via education, research and other efforts. Often we support Pollinator Partnership with these donations; or an organization of the collector’s choice. Read more here.