By now, most everyone has heard of the bees dying off. Called “Colony Collapse Disorder”, no one is really exactly sure why bees are disappearing, although viruses, parasites, and stress are possible reasons. (For more information about Colony Collapse Disorder see the news article and short video at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/07/eveningnews/main3919204.shtml)
Recently while I was hungrily ripping open a box of Haagen Daz mini ice-cream bars, I noticed the box was talking about the disapearing bees. Maybe in my subconscious I was aware of the issue, but seeing it on food boxes is bringing it to the forefront of my awareness.
As much as I love honey, it’s really gardening that has gotten my attention on this issue. For one thing, we just want bees in our gardens. Everything does better with bees around to pollinate - and some websites are now selling honey bees as “beneficial” insects, along with ladybugs, red worms, praying mantisis and others. So how can we help the bees? Here are some ideas.
- Garden Organically - Square foot gardening is perfect for organic gardening, since it reduces the need for pesticides anyway. Pesticides aren’t good for bees. If you have to use them, try to find bee friendly ones or apply it at night.
- Support Your Local Beekeeper - Buying local honey and supporting local beekeepers means they can keep taking care of bees in your area - which means the bees can keep pollinating your local vegetation.
- Plant Things Bees Like - and leave some of your weeds alone - bees like those too. Plants that bees like include Hummingbird Mint, English Ivy, Lavender, Thyme, and Sunflowers. For a comprehensive list, check out http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/list.html.
- Become a Hobbyist Beekeeper - While certainly not for everyone, this can help increase the population of bees in your area and help you become more aware. Check out your local beekeeper’s association for classes and information.
- Write Your Local Legislators - Asking them to look into the disappearing bees, institute laws to protect local bees, and planting bee friendly vegetation will help raise awareness of the issue.
Any other ideas to help the bees? I’d love to hear them - leave a comment or email me - your suggestions may be published in a future post.
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Just discovered your blog via DiginDirt, where I registered this morning. I’m also a square foot organic gardener, and thrilled to see others writing about issues like this.
You mention several possible causes of the die-offs, but I’ve heard pesticides mentioned over and over. Also, did you know that bats, too, are dying off in the northeast? Of course, they do an enormous amount to keep other insects under control. There’s a NYTimes article at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/science/25bats.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Blog on!
–kate
Thanks for visiting Kate and thanks for the article link - I did not know about bats dying off.
~plantgirl
I’ve been reading about this for a year now and they’re no closer to a “cure” than they were back then.
As for bees, they’re not just beneficial. Without them, you can’t grow many fruits and some veggies. Well, a home gardener can grow veggies if they hand polinate, but it’s impossible for commercial farmers, so say goodbye to 30% of the food we eat. Haggen Daz is a big funder of research because bees make 3/4 of their ice cream flavors possible, if I recall correctly.
Thankfully we’ve seen individual bumble bees around that seemed to be polinating my apple and plum trees. Let’s hope they come back for my blueberries and corn!
I read somewhere, (I think it was in a Smithsonian mag, but I’m not sure), that microwaves from all the cell phone towers are messing with the bees internal navigation systems. I guess that could also apply to bats. Though I’m sure all the chemical pesticides are a contributing factor, too.
Another plant that bees love is African Blue Basil. Mick (oklahomegrownveg) planted some of this in with his tomatoes as it acts as a bad bug deterrent. This basil is quite prolific, but the bees went crazy for it, especially in late summer.
Sinfonian - glad to hear you are seeing bumble bees - am still not seeing any here
though hopefully if I get enough of the right flowers planted they’ll want to hang around…
Jan - that’s interesting, I hadn’t heard about cell phone tower issues before. Thanks for the plant recommendation - I’ll be looking for it
Here’s another thing you can do…
Participate in the Great Sunflower Project.
http://www.greatsunflower.org/
They are conducting a national bee count and will send a packet of sunflower seeds to anyone who signs up. Once you’ve got sun flowers, you count how many land on the flowers (twice per month, 30 minutes each time), and send in the results. They’ll post the results at the end of the study.
Our sunflowers are just starting to come up.
-Chris
PS We’ve also seen bees on our lobelia, cosmos, and rosemary.
Thanks Chris for a terrific link - I finally saw a honey bee outside yesterday and have never been so happy to see a bee before!
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