“Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable.” ~ William Pollard

As 2016 draws to a close, I am busy studying for the final exam in the certified beekeeper class I am taking. When I enrolled in the class, I had no idea I would be immersed in honeybee biology, honeybee diseases and pests, and an expanded understanding of how our environment is changing. I have been loving every minute. Yet at the same time, I am coming to understand that some of the changes occurring in our environment, like the decline of the honeybee, will impact my grandchildren more than it will impact me.

Honeybees are the decline due to the compound impact of these factors:

1. an increasingly, flowerless landscape,
2. pests and diseases,
3. vast acres of single crop, commercial farmland
4. pesticides/insecticides

Without mitigation, the continued decline of the honeybee will result in a decrease availability of the vegetables, fruit, and nuts our diet relies on. Did you know that every third mouthful of food you eat requires pollination? Can you imagine the fruit and produce section at your local grocery store getting smaller and smaller every year? That’s a vision of our future if we do not address the decline of the honeybee.

This new understanding has inspired me to push a little bit harder on our urban garden demonstration project at Trinity Church. I believe our demonstration project will not only produce some tasty vegetables and fruits, it will also be a great teaching tool. In 2017, we are going to add a butterfly garden and a honeybee sanctuary with flowers and plants that they love. I hope this garden will inspire others to grow their own vegetables, fruit, plant more flowers, and decrease their use of pesticides and insecticides.

As you look forward to 2017, what changes are you preparing for?

(Photo credits: Linda Freeman and Trinity Church Team Photographers, Trinity Urban Garden, December 2016)