Bees in the Garden

I thought it would be fitting to post about bees (one of my favorite beneficial bugs) in the garden in celebration of my new "look". I have a serious love of bees and am fully aware of the intricate and endless work they perform in the garden, keeping the circle of life a-circlin'. 

Though I don't have any hives that I manage, I know that the domesticated honey bee has suffered from what is called "colony collapse disorder". Whole hives disappear, impacting pollination of food crops and honey production.

Scientists around the world have been working to determine the cause before the loss of bees drastically declined. In April of this year, the media touted that a cure for bee colony collapse disorder had been discovered. A new parasite was found, and when treated, prevented any further CCD problems. It may be too early to tell if this is the one and only cause, but it is a big step in the right direction.

In the even that you have a difficult time conceptualizing just how important these little guys are, check out this response to the question:

Use this story the next time someone asks you how pervasive honey bees are in food production. Ask them how honey bees produce ice cream. Tell them that approximately 50,000 colonies of honey bees are used to pollinate alfalfa for seed. This seed is planted to grow alfalfa to harvest as hay and pellets. This alfalfa is then fed to dairy cows that produce the milk that makes the ice cream. We are all linked. If the linkage is weak we all suffer.

-Southeast Farm Press, Jerry Hayes, president of the Apiary Inspectors of America.

Honey bees are certainly not the only type of bee, nor type of pollinator, but the are the easiest to load up in a box and move to a crop site. I have all kinds of bees that show up every year...and I have a Mason bee house. These bees are non stinging and low maintenance. I have to say, I have never had a problem with bees stinging me. I go about my business and they go about theirs. We have a mutual understanding that we share the space...more of a symbiotic relationship, really. Wasps, on the other hand, are an entirely different matter...

Of course, you can plant all kinds of flowering plants to attract bees...but honestly, I have had the best success with diversity. They are a natural component to a healthy ecosystem. By building a healthy, no/low pesticide environment, bees can't resist the siren call of gorgeous blooms full of pollen.

Comments

[Lisa]

I love bees. My lavender seems to have the largest concentration of bees in my whole yard.

[TC]

I like the new look Ms. Jean Ann. It's "honeylicious!"

Great bee write-up too. I try to do an update story about CCD several times a year. And here, where all bees are welcome (although I try to deter yellow jackets, non-chemically of course), it's completely pesticide and herbicide free!