I am an organic gardener, I chose to do this several years ago when I began my pollinator garden. I, too, have noticed the slow decline of honeybees, bumblebees and butterflies, especially the Monarchs. Monarch population is estimated to be 90 percent gone. The Mexican farmers are tearing down the native fir trees in the cloud rain forest where eastern Monarchs hibernate, and they are planting avocado trees so millions of Americans can have their guacamole. Please don't buy avocados. Bumblebees were designed to pollinate native plants, their disappearance is alarming. In my area, a friend who is a beekeeper told me that in certain states beekeepers had a 40 percent die off rate last winter in their honeybee hives, an unusually high rate. For myself, I have noticed my bumblebees have had a population decline of about 50 percent, despite the fact that no one around me uses killing insecticides or pesticides. My bumblebee queens overwintered in my backyard, underneath a weathered downed tree I left for that purpose. I do have a good population of two spotted longhorn bees, but the rest are in decline, despite my efforts towards conservation practices. Is it too late to help them? I would say for the Monarch, the answer is sadly yes. I predict Monarchs will be extinct in ten years or so. So very sad.
