Why saving the bees is so important for our world.
77bee and sunflower
colony collapse disorder
bee pollination
- Honey Bee Pollination Facts
Honey Bee Pollination Facts
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bees
- Gardening For The Bees
The gardener does not work alone; to be successful and produce beautiful flowers and healthy vegetables the gardener has many assistants lending a hand. The honey bee is one that pulls more than its...
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bees
- Bringing Back the Bees
Pollination is best described as the transfer of pollen from the anthers of a flower to the stigma of the same flower or of another flower. Pollination is an essential process if the flower is to be...
why bees?
All elements of an ecosystem are important to the functioning of that ecosystem. Remove one element and the system will need to make adjustments. The effect of that adjustment may often not be known until after it has happened.
It may be positive or negative, from a human standpoint, but we cannot look at nature from a human standpoint only. Why?
Well, ecosystems are complex, possibly too complex for us to be able to understand all the connections and actions and interactions that takes place within them.
If we do not know what will happen if something changes, it makes no sense to rush in and make those changes.
Now, with bees and honey bees, in particular we know that over one-third of our food supply relies upon them for pollination services and we know that pollination is essential for the reproduction of the plants the bees service.
The honey bee is a major pollinator of many of our food crops, almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, sunflowers, watermelon and many other crops all rely on honey bees for pollination.
So if honey bees disappear and we do not find replacements that can do the work they do then foods that we take for granted will decrease in supply and increase in price.
The pollination service provided by insect pollinators, bees mainly, was €153 billion (euros) in 2005 for the main crops that feed the world. This figure amounted to 9.5% of the total value of the world agricultural food production.
The main reason that the honey bees is important for our world is as simple as this; if the honey bee does not pollinate the crops, the crops do not grow and produce the food that gets harvested and brought to the store where we buy it and bring it home to feed ourselves and our families.
In other words there is a direct connection between the bees pollinating the crops and our ability to provide food for our families.
The honey bees do provide a second service; they make honey.
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Comments
well said jim, people do not distinguish between the various beings they encounter in a garden.
Thanks for stopping by.
I read in a newspaper article a few of bees favorite things:
Bees are attracted to abelia, aloysia, aster, basil, bee balm, black-eyed Susan, bluebonnet, borage, bulbine, catmint, cherry laurel, coneflower, coral vine, coreopsis, dill, duranta, Esperanza, fennel, goldenrod, gaura, hamelia, Indigo spires' salvia, Joe pye weed, Liatris, mealy sage, mistflower, oregano, penstemon, plum, portulaca, potatoes, red clover, rosemary, squash, sunflower, Texas lantana, thyme, torenia, willow, winecup and yarrow.
Where to learn more
www.beewatchers.com
www.texasbeekeepers.org
www.xerces.org
www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd
Bees are especially attracted to the color blue, experts say.
Gardeners can help:
We can provide food and shelter for bees. While some bees take nectar and pollen from most any bloom, others are more specific in their flower choices.
To meet their needs, it's helpful to identify the bees in your area. But generally, here's how we can help:
Plant a diverse garden, so blooms are available throughout the year. Close groupings of five or more plants are best.
Plant natives, which are four times more likely to attract pollinators, experts say.
Bees see blue, yellow, white and ultra-violet hues, says Donald Burger of Houston Beekeepers Association. They're especially attracted to blue, he says, but they'll visit any color flower planted in abundance.
Water plants carefully to avoid washing away nectar.
Provide shallow pools of water for drinking.
Provide shelter. An overturned flower pot with a drainage hole can provide shelter for solitary bees. A bundle of bamboo culms will offer a nesting site for stem dwellers. The Xerces Society suggests creating a wood next block at least 8 inches tall with a series of drilled holes about 3/8 inch in diameter and 3-4 inches deep. Provide a sunny area of undisturbed soil for soil nesters.
Avoid pesticides.
I think that covers the highlights for our friendly bee hoverer.
Excellent input, thanks for dropping by.
Thanks Bob for filling us in with all the information I didn't know. I just knew we needed the bees.
Thanks for dropping by.
jim10 says:
15 months ago
I think the Honey bee gets a very bad rap. Everyone assumes that every hornet, yellow jacket and wasp is a bee. The honey bee is very docile unless provoked while some of the others are very aggressive. I love the taste of honey and would miss all of the hard work the honey bee does to pollinate lots of plants and flowers.