Farming is a major industry in Delta and there is something businesses and residents alike can do to support and protect it: Feed the Bees, the Delta Chamber of Commerce says.

There is a crisis affecting the health of the bee population on a worldwide basis. The potential threat to the bee population is very real for farming businesses and their ability to grow crops. Our farm crops and our gardens need bees as pollinators. If we feed bees we can attract them and keep them.

At the chamber's Centennial Tailgate Party last month, the business group launched a promotional Feed the Bees campaign in collaboration with Earthwise Society. Earthwise Society is implementing a demonstration project using bee friendly plants at the Earthwise Farm in Tsawwassen, and offers bee workshops and other educational programs to engage residents, students, and businesses in Delta in support of the local bee population.

The two organizations intend to become part of a solution to the threat to our bees and ensure a sustainable bee population thrives on the flora of Delta.

The campaign will run through the fall and winter months and be in full swing in spring and summer of 2011.