A hive of “bees” swarmed a Christchurch City Council public meeting this morning as climate activists highlighted the plight of insects.
In today’s hearing of verbal submissions for the council’s annual plan, Extinction Rebellion Torfrida Wainwright and eight other people dressed up in bee costumes for their presentation.
The group set the council chambers abuzz, coming in from the public seating area making buzzing noises before “dying” in front of councillors, lying on the floor holding placards.
“I’ve come here to speak on behalf of the insects,” Ms Wainwright began.
“Not just the bees, but all of the insects. Insects are in rapid decline at the moment.”
She said this was mostly due to the spread of human activity into the insects’ habitats.
Ms Wainwright expressed concern as to what would happen to people’s food supply if bees disappeared, and asked councillors to reconsider their herbicide and spray programmes.
“We urge you to educate the public. Educate yourselves. We all need to change our mindsets.”
Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner, who was chairing the meeting, could be seen cracking a small smile as the group walked in.
He thanked the submitters for their “very visual” presentation.
Crown Research Institute Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research found in a survey of nearly 3500 beekeepers in 2019 the overall colony loss rate for winter 2019 was 10.46 per cent, an increase of 25 per cent since the survey began in 2015.
However, overall bee numbers in New Zealand are increasing, and bee loss rates were low compared to many other countries.
Commonly reported causes of colony losses included problems with the queen bee (for example, if it disappeared or didn’t lay eggs), varroa mite infestation, wasps or suspected starvation of bees (caused by weather and other factors).
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