Fumigants & Pheromones
Issue 65
Autumn 2002

Honeybees and Butterflies

In an environmental disaster last winter, an estimated 275 million butterflies perished in Mexico’s Valle De Bravo as a result of severe winter weather combined with diminished forest cover in and around the Monarch Butterfly sanctuaries. The too-thin forest canopy was a result of logging and cutting of trees by poor residents attempting to eke out a meager living.

Phi Chi Omega, the National Honor Society of the pest management industry in conjunction with the World Wildlife Foundation and the Heifer Project announced that it is focusing its HoneyBee Project on these environmentally critical areas. This will provide a new source of income to locals while, at the same time, protect the fragile environment necessary for the survival of the Monarch Butterfly.

Hundreds of millions of North American Monarch butterflies migrate—up to 3,000 miles—to these areas of Mexico, which have become a popular ecotourism dollar. Although the Mexican government has set aside areas as reserves for Monarch sanctuaries, desperately poor residents have continued to support themselves by cutting trees.

The goal of the Pi Chi Omega/ HoneyBee Project is to provide an alternative source of income by furnishing bees, hives, and instructions to profitably produce honey, beeswax, and pollen for medical purposes. In addition to providing much needed income, this program engenders self-reliance, passes on hives, skills and benefits to others. It also improves sensitivity in gender related issues and enhances environmental awareness. Honeybees and Butterflies For a donation as little as $30 you or your organization can contribute to the Pi Chi Omega/HoneyBee Project, which has already raised enough to provide hundreds of beehives and has been instrumental in helping to initiate a joint program between the Heifer Project and the United Nations Development Program staff. For more information where to contribute to this worthwhile project contact: Dr. Austin Frishman, (516) 694-7224.