Give bees a chance Wear Your T-Shirt With Pride

About 2 years ago I saw a T -Shirt with a huge picture of a bee on the front and the words "give bees a chance" written all around it. . I thought it looked really 'cool' but the T-shirts were not available for sale. They were a prize for a competition, and the final date for it had passed.

I wouldn't have thought any more of it if I hadn't heard someone soon afterwards talking about the bee population dying..Why are they dying? and does it matter much to us anyway? I realise pollination is important, that life is connected to other life all over the planet, so I decided to look into it. .

It seems that a change in behaviour of a bee virus could be causing the collapse of some honeybee colonies in Britain. No-one seems to know exactly why the bee population is decreasing. What the British Beekeeping Association do know is that a serious lack of bees, if it ever comes to that, would have serious consequences for all of us humans.

These little creatures that we may chase away from us for fear of being stung play a vital role in our environment through pollination. For example, in early Spring bees are the only pollinators (in any great number) that pollinate some early flowering crops. .So without bees these crops would be lost. In the United States beekeepers are government funded to varying degrees , so they have a good chance, but in Britain there is no government funding and many beekeepers are having to give up their work. Strange isn;t it, the small businessman gets it in the neck yet again

I discovered that even though we don't know why some bee colonies are collapsing, there is already a word for it., well 3 words, actually. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) after the collapse of many colonies during the winter of 2006--07.

Of course not all crops are dependent on bees for pollination and some fruit e.g. strawberries only need bees for 10% , but apples need bees for 90% of their pollination.

So what is really happening to our bees??The experts are sure it has something to do with disease and different viruses but that sounds rather vague, don't you think? Changes in weather patterns may also be a cause. So could pesticides. Whatever the reason it is not going to be resolved easily.

What a pity, because we're increasingly gaining knowledge of how valuable honey can be.. It's not only good to eat but is an excellent anti-inflammatory.It's being used more and more in dermetology and even helps to heal skin after surgery, sometimes.

I am no expert on the value of honey-bees that give us honey nor am I an expert on the pollination of plants or what will happen to some of our plants and flowers if bees continue to decrease in numbers. (After all, remember, I was merely attracted to a T- Shirt with a play on words from a John Lennon song.. 'Give peace a chance') but I do care very much about our environment. I see our planet suffering , polluted rivers of dead fish,etc.,

Most of us have become used to re-cycling as much as possible, even though it can be a nuisance sometimes to seperate our glass bottles from plastic ones, seperate paper and cardboard, tins and goodess knows what else. , But at least we are trying to do our individual little bit to keep our earth alive and healthy. As for keeping the bees alive and healthy, I hope someone works out what needs to be done before it's too late.

In the meantime we can all continue to do our best , however little it seems to be to protect Mother earth., otherwise I dread to think what our great grandchildren are going to inherit..As John Lennon said 'give peace a chance' or we'll all be killed. Give bees a chance , and the rain forests and the seal popullation and giant pandas... None of us want our earth to become unlivable in, do we? We've put a few men on the moon but it's a long way from being ready to cope with a mass migration of people trying to escape from a ruined earth to live on another planet...Love and peace, earthlings. !