# @seed on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/ChftAf9Jxym
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34246618-seed-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/358a2c37f0.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-08-20T20:51:13.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Seed (@seed) — https://gondola.cc/seed

## Caption

Bzzz Bzzz…

Today is #HoneyBeeDay—a moment to highlight not just Apis mellifera L. (🐝), but our other tiny winged friends, who are also impacted by widespread pesticide use, climate change, disease, and habitat loss. 

You might say good riddance ✌—insects don’t always win the popularity contest with us as we swat, stomp, and spray, but like every other organism, they are crucial to the health of various ecosystems, and play a vital role in human health as well. 

How? 🤨 Great question. 

~80% of wild plants depend on insects for pollination.¹ 🌻 Insects also contribute to our planet’s nutrient cycles 🌱and are an integral component of the food chain, providing food for birds, mammals, and amphibians. 

Much like the honey bees, they are also disappearing. Across the globe, we’re seeing a massive loss of insect diversity and abundance. A few weeks ago, you may have seen that monarch butterflies are now considered endangered—just one of many species inching closer towards extinction.

One study² assessed flying insect biomass (the total mass of flying insects like butterflies, bees, moths, flies) in 63 nature-protected areas of Germany—and used this data to estimate that flying insect biomass has declined over 75% in the last ~30 years.  A moment to let that sink in…🤯

What can be done about it? One possible solution: microbes (another misunderstood organism). Through our environmental R+D division, SeedLabs, we’re exploring how a probiotic could help save the bees. 

Swipe to learn more. 

P.S. New 🐝 research, coming soon. 
_
¹ Ollerton J, Winfree R, Tarrant S. How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals? Oikos. 2011;120(3):321–326. 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18644.x
² Hallmann, C. A., Sorg, M., Jongejans, E., Siepel, H., Hofland, N., Schwan, H., Stenmans, W., Müller, A., Sumser, H., Hörren, T., Goulson, D., & de Kroon, H. (2017). More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas. PloS one, 12(10), e0185809. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185809

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## Tags

honeybeeday

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