Over the last two decades, beekeepers have observed a sudden and mysterious decline of bee populations globally, and report up to 40% loss of honeybees in the United States.

Although bees famously make honey, they also play an essential role in the process of food production and are key to our ecosystems. One-third of the food that we eat – including vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices and edible oils – depends on the bees’ pollination. But currently, more and more bees are dying, causing worldwide concern. The bee decline affects mankind significantly. A world without bees would be devastating to our food supply and our way of life.

The primary reasons for the bees’ decline are industrial agriculture, parasites, and pathogens. The widespread and pervasive use of pesticides, a common practice in the current chemical-intensive agriculture systems, can lead to death and altered foraging abilities for both wild and managed bees. The situation is further complicated because pesticide-ridden sites also generally present low availability of flowers and nesting sites.

Curran’s Flowers shares your concern with this world-wide crisis and have made strides towards bee-friendly plant production. We have eliminated the commonly-used chemicals that are detrimental to local bee populations,  and use no harmful products in the production of our locally grown spring and summer crops. The standard applies all of the bedding plants and hanging plants that we grow in our greenhouses for our customers to enjoy.Unfortunately, we cannot control all of the product that comes into our shop, but we look forward to the coming day when the entire industry is universally committed to restoring and protecting the bee population. In the meantime, if you are looking for plants that are grown safely, just ask!  We have 20,920 plants that you can be assured are bee friendly, including all of our bedding plant material and hanging baskets.

If you would like more information on bringing home bee-friendly plants this spring, come in to explore the inventory at Curran’s Flowers Danvers greenhouse.