As if bees don’t have enough problems, tens of thousands were just massacred in Wilsonville, Ore., after a few trees were sprayed with the bee-killing pesticide Safari. Their tiny bodies — an estimated 50,000, according to local news — were found in the corner of a parking lot.
Now, to “memorialize these fallen lifeforms and talk about the plight of the bees and their importance to life on Earth,” Portlander Rozzell Medina is organizing the Wilsonville Bees Memorial. It will take place this coming Sunday, at the Wilsonville Target.
This idea is actually not as Portlandia-ready as it might sound. Medina writes:
As you may know, this is a very crucial moment for bees, as they are dying in the millions, unnaturally, worldwide. Their unnatural deaths are being caused by humans applying chemical pesticides to the earth and its plants. In addition to the injustice and brutality of this situation for the bees that are being murdered, there are far-reaching effects for humans, who rely on bees to pollinate our crops. It is widely agreed that the endangerment and extinction of bees will have devastating consequences for humans and other lifeforms, which makes this an urgent opportunity to honor them and advocate for them.
And you know what the right thing to bring to a bee memorial is, of course: flowers. If only the bees were still alive to enjoy them.
See also: After mass bumblebee die-off, activists want new pesticide rules
