Target: Los Angeles City Council
Goal: Encourage Los Angles to help protect the bee population by legalizing urban beekeeping
In the wake of recent incidences of colony collapse disorder, the bee population continues to dramatically plummet. Humans need to take immediate action to prevent their extinction because their pollination is essential to and responsible for a third of our food production. Recent findings show that pesticides used in agriculture are suspected to be a major contributor to bee deaths. Fortunately, many cities contain homes that have pesticide-free gardens where bee populations can survive. Therefore, homeowners participating in urban beekeeping are essential to saving the global bee population. So far, cities such as New York, Seattle, and Chicago have legalized urban beekeeping in an effort to do just that.
Los Angeles has a thriving wild bee population but has not legalized urban beekeeping. In some L.A. neighborhoods, there are as many as a dozen bee hives per square mile. Furthermore, Los Angeles has a year-round availability of pollen and nectar.
Currently, Los Angles exterminates feral bee swarms. The nonprofit conservation organization HoneyLove has been taking action to make Los Angeles a bee-friendly city. They advocate for the city to have rules and regulations to allow urban beekeeping and to protect wild bee colonies.
By signing the petition below, you are supporting HoneyLove’s endeavors to protect the bee population.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Los Angeles City Council,
Please help to save the global bee population by changing regulations in the city of Los Angeles regarding urban beekeeping and the removal of feral bee colonies. Bees’ pollination is essential for our agriculture; thus, our food supply will seriously decrease if the bees disappear. Scientific research is showing that the bee population may be suffering from mass deaths due to pesticides. However, Los Angeles has a thriving wild bee population due to its pesticide-free home gardens and year-round availability of pollen and nectar. Legalizing urban beekeeping in L.A. will greatly help to protect the global bee population from extinction.
While there are many fears associated with bee swarms, other major cities, like New York and Santa Monica, have not had serious problems after legalizing urban beekeeping. Homeowners supplying the hives they manage with adequate food and space will help reduce the chances of swarms. Furthermore, instead of exterminating feral bee swarms, I encourage you to only allow live bee removal on city and public property within Los Angeles. I also urge you to create a legal bee yard in Los Angeles to temporarily hold feral bee colonies until they are relocated to agricultural zones.
I am urging you to adopt rules and regulations to allow homeowners to manage beehives in their backyards and to not allow the extermination of feral bee swarms.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: John Severns via Wikimedia Commons