How did you end up in this field, studying bees and their relationship to the environment and climate change? 

During my undergraduate degree, the University of Toronto had the option to get course credit by volunteering in a lab. I was placed in a lab that studied evolutionary ecology of bees and plants, where I overcame my fear of them. Through working in that lab, I realized that no one was studying the decline of native bumblebees in Ontario despite evidence that some had declined rapidly so I decided to work on that for my PhD at 91亚色.

Most of us understand the idea of greenwashing, when corporations spend money on campaigns to "look green" while carrying out unsustainable practices. But the idea of "beewashing" is new to me. Can you explain what this means? 

Beewashing refers to branding of actions as sustainable and/or helpful for declining bees when in fact they are not. The biggest example is the promotion of honeybees outside of their native areas as somehow good for the environment or bee populations.  In North America, we have about 2000 native bee species, none of which are the European Honeybee.  Our native bees overwinter by sleeping and thus do not collect honey (aside from species in Mexico) and they are mostly solitary (not living in hives). Most of our native bee species have not been assessed in terms of conservation status but for those that have been, diseases introduced from managed bees seem to be a key threat. There is also growing evidence that honeybees can disrupt pollination of native plants and can outcompete native bees for pollen and nectar. The European Honeybee is not at risk of extinction and is in fact one of the most common livestock animals and invasive bees around the world. The fact that many businesses are adding honeybee hives and calling it a sustainability initiative, while actually increasing pressures to wild bees is the epitome of beewashing.  We would never through a million Asian Carp into the great lakes and say we are saving declining fishes, so why do we accept it with bees? 

What is the relationship between bees and climate change? How does your work championing wild bees compared to "managed bees" -- managed by humans, for instance, for honey production -- relate to climate change?

Honeybees are livestock. They produce honey, which is a food item that we use. But it's not related to climate change. In order to address climate change we need to conserve a diverse and abundant wild bee community. When we have a lot of species doing pollination services, our food systems and natural ecosystems will be more resilient to climate change. If we reduce diversity and put all our eggs in one basket, all it takes is one disease or weather event to come through to knock out that species and we are in big trouble.  We saw how risky this is with how quickly Varroa mites and colony collapse disorder swept through honeybee colonies. It's also important to note that climate change is a threat to wild bees, native plants and other wildlife species, so prioritizing mitigating climate change is critical in order to conserve native pollinators and more.

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The events give people the opportunity to learn about the hundreds of bee species, how they live, eat and pollinate, and why they're important to humans. In a collaborating effort with fellow students, professors, artists and members of the public, Malach has brought International Pollinator Week to聽Toronto from the United States, where it first started four years ago.

鈥淭his is truly a collaborative event that is reaching out from the ivory tower and into the community,鈥� says Malach.

Events range from a photo exhibit and a Pollinators Cabaret at the Gladstone Hotel to a Pollinators Festival at Evergreen Brick Works.

Birds, bees, bats and butterflies are essential in the bid to produce fruit, vegetables, seeds and flowers. "More than 90 crops consumed by humans are pollinated by insects," says Malach.聽"Globally, pollinators are in decline which is a major threat to food security."

People can help by providing the right kind of habitats for pollinators in the city, such聽as planting daisies, lavender, mint, asters and sunflowers. "Researchers have found that cities can act as havens for declining pollinator populations if appropriate garden techniques are practised," says Malach.聽It is estimated that for every three bites of either food or drink a human takes, one of them can be attributed to the work of a pollinator, usually an insect. The making of chocolate depends on pollinators, as do dairy cows, who eat pollinated alfalfa as their major food source. Bee habitats聽are just one of the topics being presented during International Pollinator Week.

"I am particularly interested in helping to raise awareness around this and to hopefully help inspire urban citizens to be pollinator stewards in their yards and gardens and play a part in enhancing biodiversity and investing in food security in a tangible way," says Malach.

So what鈥檚 the buzz? A couple of bee related events are taking place before Pollinator Week. On Saturday, June 5, from 3:30 to 4:15pm, listen to a talk by 91亚色 Professor Laurence Packer (right), Sarah Peebles and Rob King (MA 鈥�08) regarding the distinct features and challenges of putting on an earlier art installation dealing with the biodiversity of bees. The talk is part of the at the Innis聽Town Hall,聽2 Sussex Ave., University聽of聽Toronto in Toronto. On Sunday, June 6, a hands-on workshop to create a habitat garden that provides appropriate nesting and food for pollinators will take place聽from 10am to noon at the on Lebovic Campus Drive, west of Ilan Ramon Boulevard in Toronto.

Then from Monday, June 21 to Sunday, June 27, Urban Buzz: A Tale of Three Cities, a multimedia exhibit exploring the lives of bees in Toronto, New 91亚色 City and the San Francisco Bay area, will take place from noon to 5pm in the聽Art Bar at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W., Toronto. Photographs by Malach, wire bee sculptures by Charmaine Lurch as well as work by Sarah Peebles and Michael Abraham will be on display. On Thursday, June 24, from 6 to 8:30pm, the Pollinators Cabaret will offer an evening of storytelling, poetry, dance, song and visual art in celebration of pollinators聽in the Gladstone Hotel鈥檚 Melody Bar, followed by events from 8:45 to 11pm in the Art Bar.

翱苍听Sunday, June 27, from 10am to 5:30pm, International Pollinators Week will draw to a close with the Pollinators Festival, a full-day celebration of pollinators with workshops from a diverse group of educators and a marketplace with local honey, bee houses made by local artists and scientists, books and other goods. The event will take place at , 550 Bayview Ave. in Toronto.

The following is a list of workshops to take place at the Pollinators Festival:

Explore the Lives of Bumblebees
10 to 11:15am
Presenter: Sheila Colla, a PhD biology candidate at 91亚色
Bumblebees are important native pollinators of fruits, vegetables and flowering plants in temperate regions.聽Colla will discuss the importance of bumblebees and how people can help preserve declining populations.

Pollinator Gardening at Evergreen Brick Works
11:30am to 12:45pm
Join Evergreen and Pollination Week partners as they get their hands dirty at a planting workshop. Learn pollinator-attracting gardening techniques that can be applied in the backyard, balcony or container garden.

Honeybee Hive Life
1 to 2:15pm
Presenter: Toronto Beekeepers Co-operative
Join the Toronto Beekeepers Co-op to take a close-up look at life in the honeybee hive.

Keeping the Bees
2 to 2:30pm
Presenter: 91亚色 biology and environmental studies Professor Laurence Packer
Learn about the current declining status of bees and what you can do to help save them. Packer will discuss topics from his (HarperCollins, 2010).
Informational tables will be set up by local organizations, artists and architects, and books and local honey will be on sale.

A Pollinator Monitoring Workshop
2:30 to 4:15pm
Presenters: Maria Kasstan聽& Dave and Norma Barr
Learn about pollinator decline and its potential threat to food security. Learn to recognize and support local pollinators and take part in a hands-on, citizen science pollinator-monitoring project.

The Movement of Bees
4:30 to 5:30pm
Presenters: Naomi Tessler聽& 91亚色 PhD student Zita Nyarady
A movement and sound based workshop that brings community together through enacting the movement and sounds of the bee community.

For more information, contact Sabrina Malach at sabrinamalach@gmail.com.

The entry fee for the Pollinator Festival at Evergreen Brick Works is a $5 donation or pay what you can.聽All ages are welcome, but space is limited. To RSVP for by-donation workshops or register for paid workshops, e-mail ebw@evergreen.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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