Many of us might be starting to think about the flowers and vegetables we’ll plant this season. Whether it’s on a patio or in a yard, there is a growing understanding that our gardens need to include bees and other pollinators that play a key role in healthy and abundant harvests.

And it’s not just the tomatoes and sweet peas who benefit. As author and scientist Dr. Mark Winston writes, “Bees can be the richest of guides to the most personal understandings about who we are and the consequences of the choices we make in inhabiting the environment around us.”

Join us for a lunch ‘n’ learn on March 30 (details below) about how you can improve your garden, your wellbeing and the planet this spring with help from the hive. All staff are welcome.

Bees benefit our emotional wellbeing

Almost 90 per cent of the world’s plants, and over 70 per cent of food crops, rely on these small creatures, along with other pollinators such as butterflies, for fertilization and reproduction.

Their critical role in our ecosystem means that bees act as warning signs – the canary in the coal mine – that tell us when we are living out of balance with nature. A worrying global decline in pollinator species tells us that current practices such as pesticide use and large-scale monoculture are not sustainable.

Fortunately, part of the solution can be in our own backyards (or patios). Growing flowers that attract and support pollinators is one way to help combat this trend. Keeping bees is another way to support more pollinators in urban areas – something many Metro Vancouver municipalities encourage.

Bees can also have a beneficial effect on our psychological and emotional wellbeing. As Dr. Winston writes, “The curiosity and listening skills of honeybee workers stand as beacons to those of us who aspire to being more fully present to the world around us.”

Lunchtime event and RSVP details

Date: March 30, 2017

Time: 12:00 – 12:50 pm

Location: BC Cancer Research Centre (Diamond Theatre) at 675 W. 10th Ave., Vancouver

Speaker: Dr. Winston, author of the award-winning book “Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive”

Hosts: Lower Mainland Health Organizations’ GreenCare program and Green+Leaders

RSVP: olive.dempsey@fraserhealth.ca