Should you "Bee" Concerned?
Yes!! 1 out of 3 bites of food you eat is thanks to pollination by honey bees…but bees are under threat! Since the initial detection of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in 2006, honey bee keepers have been losing roughly 30% of their hives annually. Although CCD is not fully understood, it appears to be a destructive synergism of multiple drivers of collapse. These include but are not limited to destruction of habitat, pesticides, parasitic mites, and increased viral levels.
Five Ways to Help the Bees
- Create a Bee Garden! Encourage Bees and other wildlife by planting flowers and other plants that Bees love!
- Don't cut your grass! Long grass gives pollinators more places to feed and shelter.
- Make a wood pile. This micro-habitat will decay over time and create a great environment for Bees. Use logs or sawn off tree branches.
- Put away the pesticides. There are better ways to deal with real pests! For example, getting rid of aphids is as easy as stripping them off with gloved hands!
- Feed Bees mushrooms! Paul Stamets (below) has created a mushroom mycelium extracts that provides essential nutrition that confers an immune benefit to bees!
Paul Stamets wants to save the bees, find out more at fungi.com
World Bee Day
Slovenia proposed that the United Nations (UN) proclaim 20 May as World Bee Day. On 20 December 2017, following three years of international efforts, the UN Member States unanimously approved Slovenia’s proposal and 20 May was proclaimed World Bee Day.