2021 Beauty of the Bee Photo Contest Winners
Special thanks to GloryBee for being this year's photo contest sponsor!*
Congratulations to our TOP WINNERS (see below): Patricia Edmonds, Christina LaBonte, and Richard Tetley! Congratulations also to our amazing Honorable Mentions (see below): Kathleen Fitzgerald, and Donnarae Aiello! Director's Choice: Rachael Seeger; Most Appreciated on Facebook: Linda Cousino.
1) Patricia Edmonds, "Blue Splendor"
Tell our leaders why it's so important to save bees now (briefly).
Patricia says, "Humans need to feed our souls as well as our bodies. Taking in the nourishment provided by the never ending endeavors of bees as they enrich life with food as well a depth of beauty unparalleled is worthy of our most sincere efforts to protect them." | Native plant identified: "Hydrangea"
2) SECOND PLACE: Christina LaBonte, No Title
Tell our leaders why it's so important to save bees now (briefly).
"The Coronavirus pandemic has been a lesson in how something tiny can have a huge impact on the entire world. Our small, pollinator friends similarly have a profound impact on our lives. The decline of bees is likely to have a devastating impact on the world as we know it and any effort to reverse this trend is an investment in ourselves and a sustainable future."
3) Richard Tetley, "Milkweed Treat"
Tell our leaders why it's so important to save bees now (briefly).
"Bees have held my interest since grade school. I would find a plant that attracted them and carefully cup my hands and capture a bee bare handed. I would sneak a peek inside my hands to see it up close. After a while I’d open my hands and watch it fly off. I did this over and over again. I was never stung, not once. Bees are enormously important in agricultural for pollination and we are watching their numbers decline .The combinations of pesticides, parasites and malnutrition and possibly global warming are seriously reducing critical bee populations. We need act now to save the bees!" | Native plant identified: Native Showy Milkweed
Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mention 1: Kathleen Fitzgerald, "Bombus vosnesenskii"
Tell our leaders why it's so important to save bees now.
"I am particularly fond of bumble bees. They are in the flowers in front of my house. The neighbor kids--eye level to the flowers--stop and watch the bumbles and other pollinators work. I only see the bees in their summer lives, in the flowers and the sun. I am not sure exactly where their nests are, but they are close by. Come winter, the new queens will sleep and wait for next year's sunny days. They will be close by too, in some messy little patch of wild left in my yard. We need to keep some messy little patches of wild in the years to come."
Honorable Mention 2: Donnarae Aiello, No Title
Tell our leaders why it's so important to save bees now.
"We are beholden to bees….as pollinators to the food chain if bee populations continue to decline the production of food will decrease as well."
Director's Choice: Rachael Seeger, "Pollen Love"
Tell our leaders why it's so important to save bees now (briefly).
"Bees are key to a sustainable ecosystem. Unfortunately the mass use of pesticides and herbicides has created a hostile environment for our beautiful bees and their numbers are reducing at a rapid rate."
WINNER OF MOST APPRECIATED ON FACEBOOK
Linda Cousino, "Sharing Is Caring"
Tell our leaders why it's so important to save bees now (briefly).
"We need our pollinators, and our pollinators need us. They are important to our food supply and so much more. Bees are our friends, and I treat them as such!" | Native plant identified: Zinnias
*Thanks to kind support from GloryBee!
GloryBee is proud to support Beyond Toxics' 9th Annual Beauty of the Bee Photo Contest! Honey bees are our favorite pollinators of course, but we love them all. And everything we do to help one bee, helps the others. Like decreasing pesticide use and creating more habitat with diverse floral resources. We started our SAVE the BEE Initiative to increase awareness of the plight of honey bees, and SAVE the BEE has been a consistent supporter of Beyond Toxic’s work to protect all of Oregon’s bees.
