We’ve all heard about the ongoing plight of the bee, particularly Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). CCD is an alarming and mysterious phenomenon in which the workers abruptly disappear, often leaving behind their brood and Queen. This is mysterious in that honey bees are are normally very social insects and will defend their hive and Queen with their lives. While the debate regarding the causes of CCD continues, there are a few simple things we can do to help the bees.
- When encountering bees, don’t be intimidated. Most bees are not aggressive unless they are provoked.
- Make your garden, patio pots and window boxes bee-friendly. (Here are a couple of great sites for info on urban bee gardens. Nature.Berkeley.edu and The Melissa Garden. )
- Avoid, limit, or if possible, eliminate pesticides.
- Buy organic food. It’s no secret that buying organic protects humans and bees (and other pollinators) from harmful pesticides.
- Buy local honey. Eating local honey may help reduce seasonal allergy symptoms.
- Allow a beekeeper to maintain a hive or two on your property. More information may be found at OutdoorPlace.Org.
- Bee swarm removal – do not call an exterminator! Instead contact a local beekeeper through your state or county honey and beekeeping association. HoneyO.com has links and information that you may find helpful.
- Set up a bee bath. Bees need water too. I don’t believe that the birds would mind sharing, so you could modify an existing bird bath for bees by adding a few pebbles for them to land on.
- Stop by GreatSunflower.org to find other ways to help bees.
- Become a hobby beekeeper like Cindy at The Bee Lady from Hilltop Farm.
What a lovely post and so informative. Thank you. I love bees in the garden and with spring coming, soon they'll be smothering the echium. I like to think the flowers in my garden are helping to create honey.
ReplyDeleteAnne :-)
Gosh a post full of information.
ReplyDeleteWell done Linda.
Bees,.....well not our favourite thing.
My Husband had one flying around in the car while he was on the motorway. Of course he panicked and ended up on the hard shoulder. Banned for driving for 3 weeks!
This was years ago....
I love honey though.
Hugs Suex
Local honey also tastes sweeter (some imported honey is watered down). A friend of mine bought some of our honey and found that he used about half what he bought in the store.
ReplyDeleteWell how in the world did I miss this post on honeybees!!! Thank you! And I didn't even know it was honey bee day. I missed it :-( I guess I've been too busy lately extracting honey. What a big job.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda,
Cindy