A South Coast community is now a sanctuary city for bees.
The City of Santa Barbara is the latest to step up to become part of an awareness campaign for the key pollinators called “Bee City, USA.”
The global bee population has been in big trouble for the last decade. In the U.S. during the winter of 2015-2016, we lost about 28% of colonies. While every second grader can tell you that bees are important for pollinating plants, most people don’t realize how important pollinators are to the environment. One out of three bites of food you eat is made possible by pollinators. And, 90% of the world’s wild plants need pollinating.
Santa Barbara joins a list of more than 50 cities across the country declaring themselves to be “Bee Cities,” and the sixth in California. In our region, it joins Thousand Oaks as a “Bee City.” The designation is intended to raise awareness, but more importantly to set an example by implementing policies which are bee friendly, like restricting the use of pesticides. When beehives are discovered in area where they may conflict with people or pets, rather than eradicate it the goal is to have experts move them to a safe spot.
