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CAN WE SAVE THE BEES ALREADY? CAN WE PLEASE SAVE THE BEES ALREADY?

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Not to reference The Bee Movie or anything, but

Remember when we were all young and most of us probably watched The Bee Movie either in class or for our own enjoyment, and we saw the damage that not having bees can do to our beautiful earth?

My question is if we can grasp the concept of valuing their presence or not harming them from such a young age, why aren't we doing it now?

Globally over the last 15 years, we have been losing anywhere from 30% to 90% of honey bee colonies due to Colony Collapse Disorder- a term used to identify over 10 different reasons for mysterious honey bee die-offs.

Bees are dying from a variety of factors: pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air pollution, global warming, and so much more.

As humans, we can help most of these issues, but as humans, we also caused most of these.

Worker bees (females) typically live around 5-6 weeks in the summertime and even a few several months in the winter. Bee colonies are constantly making new worker bees during the spring and the summertime, but reproduction slows during winter. On average, a bee colony will decline anywhere from 5% to 10% over the winter, but those worker bees are always replaced when spring comes. If it's a really bad year, some hives even lose 15% to 20% of its bees.

Now, remember these statistics and prepare yourself for the ones coming next.

In the U.S, winter losses have commonly come to 30% to 50%. In 2006, a man named David Hackenberg, who was a beekeeper for 42 years, reported a 90% die off in his 3,000 hives.

"The number of working bee colonies per hectare provides a critical metric of crop health. In the U.S- among crops that require bee pollination- the number of bee colonies per hectare has declined by 90% since 1962."

In short, the bees cannot keep pace with the winter die-off rates and habitat loss.

Then we have the issue of pesticides.

Biologists have found more than 150- that's right, 150 different chemical residues in bee pollen, a deadly "pesticide cocktail" as some like to call it. The chemical companies, Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, Dow, DuPont, and Monsanto wave this off like it's no big deal and are not inclined in the slightest to change their pesticide policy. Because you know, I guess selling poisons to hundreds of farmers is pretty profitable.

The wild bee habitats continue to shrink every year as agribusinesses convert grasslands into monoculture farms contaminated with pesticides.

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WAYS YOU CAN HELP THE BEES!

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-Plant flowers!
You can provide a long season of nectar and pollen rich flowers for bees to feed on! You can plant flowers, shrubs, trees, and plants! Also, to all my Canadians out there, you can sign up for a free packet of seeds at Beesmatter.ca and they will supply you with a little starter pack of flowers to make your garden pretty, and bumblebees healthy! Beesmatter.ca also provides some very helpful information on all of this too!

-Leave Out water!
You can do this with a small wildlife pond or in just a simple bowl for the bees to stop by and drink! They need to stay hydrated as well!

-Buy locally made honey!
If you have allergies, this one is for you! By taking a small dose of honey from your local honey supplier, it can improve your allergies by a whole lot! Also by giving money to your local beekeeper, you're keeping your money out of the hands of a big corporation using the harmful chemical that's killing bees!

-Avoid using pesticides!
This one is self-explanatory, but just be aware of what you're using when you're using it, please!

-Leave the beehives alone!
Do not disturb it! Do not poke at it! If you can't respect it, then do not even look at it! Leave them be!

-Leave dandelions and clovers growing if you can!
These two plants bees have a fondness for, so if any are growing wildly in your yard, it's best to leave them unless you absolutely must get rid of them!

If a bee finds its way in your house, do not harm it!
Bees are our friends, and if one finds its way into your home, please don't go swatting at it or trying to kill it! Remove it safely, and calmly!

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