General Mills division tries to save the bees

Nobody knows how to sell you a box of cereal like General Mills, whose various ad campaigns for Cheerios have tapped into social change and, at least to some degree, propelled it.

General Mills Canada this month, a Cheerios-branded campaign focused on another species: bees.

The company is giving wildflower seeds away to help increase bee habitat.

“There are a range of threats to Canada’s bee population, but among the biggest are the elimination of flowering plants and ground cover in urban and rural areas alike,” University of Minnesota professor of Entomology Marla Spivak said in a press release. “The goal of planting 35 million wildflowers will go a long way toward helping provide the natural habitat and food supply that is essential for healthy, sustainable bee colonies.”