Organic Featured in Federal Agriculture Leaders Debates
April 24, 2025
By Dr. Erica Shelley
When most people think of bees, they picture honey bees buzzing around flowers. But did you know that Canada is home to more than 800 species of native bees, most of them solitary, ground-nesting, and essential for healthy ecosystems?
Whether you’re an organic farmer, retailer, processor, or shopper, pollinators are quietly working behind the scenes to ensure your food system thrives. From wildflowers to watermelon, pollinators are responsible for fertilizing over 75% of the world’s flowering plant species, and their role in organic agriculture is even more critical.
Bees Make Organic Farming Work
Organic farming depends on biodiversity and ecological balance, and pollinators are at the heart of that system. Unlike conventional systems that often rely on chemical inputs to manage pests and weeds, organic farms emphasize living soil, cover cropping, and natural cycles. This creates habitats; not just for earthworms and microbes, but also for bees.
Healthy pollinator populations translate into better yields, improved crop quality, and more resilient ecosystems. For example, managed pollinators like honey bees, bumblebees, mason bees, and leafcutter bees can be used in targeted ways to boost pollination in everything from apples to alfalfa. At the same time, wild native pollinators—like sweat bees, mining bees, and carpenter bees—provide free pollination services that often go unnoticed.
A Crop Without Flowers Is a Desert for Bees
Pollinators don’t just need flowers during the few weeks your crop is in bloom—they need a season-long buffet. Organic farms that integrate diverse cover crops, hedgerows, flowering strips, and crop rotations provide continuous food for pollinators. This helps build strong local bee populations that return year after year.
On the flip side, crop fields treated with broad-spectrum pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides can become ecological dead zones, stripping the landscape of forage and harming bee health. Even some so-called “bee-safe” pesticides have been shown to interfere with navigation, foraging, and immune systems in honey bees and native pollinators alike.
Soil Health = Pollinator Health
Here’s something not everyone thinks about: bees need healthy soil too. Over 70% of native bees nest in the ground, often just a few inches below the surface. Practices like no-till, cover cropping, and compost use don’t just build organic matter—they also protect the nesting sites of solitary bees.
When soil is compacted or repeatedly disturbed, these bees can’t nest—and no nests means no pollination. By protecting the soil, organic growers protect their pollinators, and in turn, their crops.
What You Can Do
Whether you’re farming, selling, or simply choosing organic at the grocery store, you’re helping build a food system that protects pollinators. Here are three simple ways to support them:
- Farmers: Incorporate flowering plants and minimize tillage where possible.
- Businesses: Highlight pollinator-friendly practices on packaging or in-store displays.
- Shoppers: Choose certified organic products to support systems that protect pollinators from harmful chemicals.
Healthy pollinators aren’t just a nice bonus—they’re essential to food security and ecosystem health. Organic agriculture provides one of the best models we have for protecting pollinators and producing food in harmony with nature. Let’s keep the buzz going—on our farms, in our soil, and across our plates.
About Dr. Erica Shelley
Dr. Erica Shelley is a beekeeper, pollination researcher, and founder of Best for Bees. With over 15 years of experience working with honey bees, bumblebees, and pollinator-friendly farming, she’s now the Executive Director of the Organic Council of Ontario, where she’s focused on collaboration, community, and building a healthier world for both humans and pollinators. She’s also the inventor of world award-winning beekeeping technology using bee vectoring and has spent years championing pollinator health at the municipal level through Bee City Kitchener. She’s always happiest when something is buzzing.
