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Burt’s Bees launches campaign to save the honey bee

Burt's Bees campaignSkincare company Burt’s Bees have launched a new campaign ‘Bring Back the Bees’ to help save the honey bee population which is in dramatic decline.

The company has rolled out a limited edition strawberry lip balm to help fund researchers through the Wheen Bee Foundation, an Australian NGO that promotes awareness and researches on the importance of bees for food security.

“By donating A$1 from the sale of every limited edition Strawberry Lip Balm to the Wheen Bee Foundation it will help support Australian researchers defend the local bee population,” Shaunte Mears-Watkins, general manager ANZ, Burt’s Bees said.

“Everyone can help the bees in a range of other small ways such as planting flower borders with bee-friendly flowers and reducing the amount you mow your lawn; they may seem like small things, but it’s those small actions that Australians can make every day which will drive change to protect our bees. Bees are incredible creatures of nature that do so much to nurture our ecosystem and now it is time for all of us to support the bees.”

The skincare business said there is a dramatic decline in bee population – 30 per cent in the US and more than 80 per cent in the Middle East.

John Karasinski, a researcher at Curtin University and associate of the Wheen Bee Foundation, studied the economic contribution of honey bees to Australian agriculture and found out that bees contribute A$14.2 billion annually to the Australian economy.

Pollination value is 140 times greater than the gross value production of honey; there are 53 insect pollinated agricultural crops and pollinators affect 35 per cent of global agricultural land and crop yields increase by a significant median of 24 per cent when pollination is managed well.

“Globally the bee population remains under serious threat, with little public awareness of the devastating effect this can have on crops affecting food supply. Australia’s strict bio-security laws have to date largely protected the country from decline in bees, but our research has shown that crop yields increase by a significant median of 24 per cent when pollination is managed well, showing the importance of keeping our bee ecosystem under a firm watch,” Karasinski said.

To pledge bee support, Aussies can join street artist Mulga from 29 January –  4 February, as he paints to save the bees at 6 York Street, Sydney.

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