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Cheerios' attempt to save bees backfired massively
MSN ^ | March 20, 2017 | Hayley Peterson

Posted on 03/22/2017 6:10:47 AM PDT by Zakeet

Cheerios cereal brand is under fire for sending out billions of potentially disease-spreading seeds in an attempt to help save bees from extinction.

The brand recently announced that it would mail out free wildflower seeds as part of its "Save the Bees" campaign.

The seeds, once planted, were meant to provide more nectar for the declining bee population.

As of Friday, Cheerios had sent out 1.5 billion seeds, according to General Mills, which owns the cereal brand.

There's one problem with Cheerios' charitable effort, however: some of the wildflower species included in the packet of seeds can do serious damage to various ecosystems across the US, reports Lifehacker.

The packets contain more than 15 species of seeds, including some that are banned in certain states because they can "take up all the space and use up all the resources" and "spread disease" that could be detrimental to plants and humans, an ecologist told Lifehacker.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: agriculture; bees; cheerios; environment; flowers; oops
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You Freepers shouldn't criticize these Libtards too much ... because they really meant well.

1 posted on 03/22/2017 6:10:47 AM PDT by Zakeet
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To: Zakeet
"take up all the space and use up all the resources"

sounds like kudzu....

2 posted on 03/22/2017 6:14:09 AM PDT by stylin19a (Terrorists - "just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there")
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To: Zakeet

And, of course, planting wildflowers has nothing to do with saving bees. They, the bees, are having their populations decimated by a bacterial infection. They will, of course, survive. Bees have been around for hundreds of millions of years, since the first flowering plants. They are not stupid about bacteria.


3 posted on 03/22/2017 6:16:02 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell (The Left has the temperament of a squealing pig.)
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To: Zakeet

Oh-Oh.....................


4 posted on 03/22/2017 6:16:06 AM PDT by Red Badger (Ending a sentence with a preposition is nothing to be afraid of........)
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To: stylin19a
sounds like kudzu....

I was thinking more of illegal immigrants.

5 posted on 03/22/2017 6:17:01 AM PDT by TheCipher (Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. Mark Twain)
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To: Zakeet

1.5 billion seeds. What could go wrong?

6 posted on 03/22/2017 6:18:41 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Not tired of winning yet!)
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To: Zakeet

In the Petersen guide to wild flowers, such plants are listed as “alien”

There are many including dandelions


7 posted on 03/22/2017 6:21:45 AM PDT by bert (K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... Hillary is Ameritrash, pass it on)
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To: Zakeet

Like sending Scotch broom seeds to WA; but here’s a list of what’s noxious weeds in WA: https://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rptType=State&statefips=53 I thought that “policeman’s helmet was interesting.


8 posted on 03/22/2017 6:22:52 AM PDT by SkyDancer (Ambition Without Talent Is Sad, Talent Without Ambition Is Worse)
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To: Zakeet

The mix includes Chinese Forget-Me-Not, Siberian Wallflower, Orange California Poppy, Purple Coneflower, Single Mix China Aster, Corn Poppy, Lance leaved Coreopsis, Blue Flax, Baby Blue-Eyes, Globe Gilia, Indian Blanket, Tidy-Tips, Plains Coreopsis, Tall White Sweet Alyssum, Lavender Hyssop, Fleabane Daisy, Forget-Me-Not, New England Aster, Bergamot, and contains annuals, biennials, and perennials that produce flowers throughout the entire growing season in a wide range of colours, Veseys said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-veseys-seeds-wildflower-mix-questions-gmo-invasive-species-1.4032641


9 posted on 03/22/2017 6:25:35 AM PDT by glock rocks (... so much win!)
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To: freedumb2003

“Unintended Consequences”

Maybe we should send the seeds to Demoncrats.


10 posted on 03/22/2017 6:25:58 AM PDT by Gadsden1st
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To: Louis Foxwell

Honeybees having the die-off problems are not native to North America and have always had to be managed.


11 posted on 03/22/2017 6:26:32 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: Zakeet

Diversity is not our strength?


12 posted on 03/22/2017 6:27:40 AM PDT by Paladin2 (No spellcheck. It's too much work to undo the auto wrong word substitution on mobile devices.)
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To: Zakeet

Not sure I really appreciate all the caterwauling over “invasive” species. I suspect introductions have been happening throughout history with or without man’s help.

As far as bees go, probably the single biggest contributing factor to hive death is the massive movement of large numbers of hives to California to pollinate almonds, then moving them back. Creates an opportunity for diseases to spread. The next big thing is probably commercial operations with hundreds of hives in close proximity.


13 posted on 03/22/2017 6:27:57 AM PDT by hopespringseternal
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To: Zakeet

The assumption is that the article is correct. No matter what anyone does to help there is always somebody there to bitch.


14 posted on 03/22/2017 6:29:00 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch (https://thepurginglutheran.wordpress.com)
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To: bert

Interestingly, the honey bees themselves are a non-native species in the New World, having been brought over by Europeans.


15 posted on 03/22/2017 6:29:07 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity - Pres. Eisenhower)
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To: Zakeet

How much did this marketing campaign set back the shareholders. Now, it is getting bad press.


16 posted on 03/22/2017 6:30:16 AM PDT by RummyChick
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To: Zakeet
Reminds me of the Osborne tire reef. Yes, this was deliberate...environmentalist 'experts' thought it was a good idea at the time:
17 posted on 03/22/2017 6:30:30 AM PDT by lacrew
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To: Zakeet
You mean..these aren't Cheerio seeds?


18 posted on 03/22/2017 6:34:28 AM PDT by moovova
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To: Zakeet

Like blankets infected with small pox.


19 posted on 03/22/2017 6:35:37 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: TheCipher

thanks...I will bill you for the new keyboard


20 posted on 03/22/2017 6:36:43 AM PDT by stylin19a (Terrorists - "just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there")
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