As we are now in the summer months, this is a good time to think about planting trees, shrubs, and flowers that will help attract the honey bees to our gardens. I love bees. As many of you already know, we have thousands of “pet” bees that we take care of. Our yard is heaven for the honey bee in search of some good nectar! So it saddens me to know that the honey bees have been disappearing at an absolutely alarming rate. The disappearance of the bees is a distinct sign to us that we cannot continue on the path we are going and that we must do something. A big part of the problem is the widespread use of insecticides, it is having a devastating effect on bee colonies. Flowers are contaminated with insecticides that kill bees directly or lead to chronic, debilitating effects on their health. Did you know that honey bees and wild bees are the most important pollinators of many of the fruits and vegetables we eat?
Of 100 crop species that provide 90% of our global food supply, 71 are bee-pollinated. Whether it's pollination of apples, or pollination of the seeds used to produce grain for livestock, the food chain is directly linked to the honey bees. The world's production of food is dependent on pollination provided by the honey bees. If the bees disappear, so do many of our food sources. There are solutions to protecting the world’s bee population and protecting ourselves as well, and it’s actually all common sense, here's a good start:
- Ban dangerous pesticides
- Protect the bees by preserving wild habitat
- Farm Organic
It just makes good sense.
So, you ask what can I do? Plant flowers, plant flowers everywhere, and don’t use insecticides on your gardens or your lawns. The illustration below shows some flowers that the bees just love and they are beautiful for the garden as well!
