Native Bees

I was just thumbing through my AARP magizine that I get every month and happened upon an article on the honeybee called "Bee-friended". There were a few facts I was not aware of for instance their are other insects and animals that help the bees do the pollinating hummingbirds, butterflys, bats, ants, and beetles. I have always held the opinion that bats, ants and beetles could just leave the planet and I for one would not miss them. Now I am going to have to give them a little respect for their place in the eco - system.

It appears that large scale farms rely on the European honeybees to do the pollination. They pollinate about one third of all the food Americans consume. A lot has been said about the problem of the dissapearance of the honeybee and the colony collapse within the beekeeping industry. However the article states that the organic farmers and scientiists feel that the honeybees wild cousins could really help out in this crisis.
So often when something happens to our planet there is little we can do but shake our head and feel sad. In this instance there is something we can all do to help. We can provide the bees with a habitat in our own yards .Most native bees are the solitary non swarming kind. They like some of the same things we like for instance big patches of closely planted flowers about a square yard of one kind will usually attract them. A lot of blooms with very little insecticide will surely attract them. The colors yellow, purple and blue are bee magnets. Surpursingly (or maybe not) they are more attracted to the native wildflowers such as Beardtongue, Bee balm, Lavendar, Snow - in - summer and Yarrow. Well I know what I will be planting in my flower beds now. Kayflowers

Kay is one of web masters that work on our web site and lends a hand with the blogs from time to time.


Have a great day! Kay