Honey-Do List: Five Things We Can Do to Help Bees

The rusty patched bumble bee was recently listed as an endangered species, the first of its kind to gain such federal protection. Bumble bees are crucial pollinators of wildflowers as well as nearly one third of all crops in the US.


Image Courtesy of picturesflowers.net Source: http://www.picturesflowers.net/free_flowers_pictures/honeybee_on_a_thistle_flower_collecting_pollen_0001-0408-3110-3930.html

Threats seem to be coming at these essential and beautiful creatures from all sides. From diseases spread by commercially-reared bees, to climate change by disrupting and altering floral bloom times, and habitat loss caused by human expansion, to pesticide use--primarily a toxic agent known as a neonicotinoid, the threats that bees are currently facing are enormous, devastating and challenging. Things look pretty dire and this should concern all of us, that's why I felt the need to take the time to write up my plan of action and share it with those who happen to read this here little blog.

These are some small acts that we can all take to do our part to try to save the bees.

1. Plant bee-friendly flowers, flowering herbs in your pesticide-free garden.
Not only does this help bees, but planting flowers alongside your veggies will benefit your yield. Pesticides are not the only way to eliminate unwanted insects from a garden. If you're out watering your garden every day, take a moment to inspect your plants, unwanted pests, just pluck them off, kill or relocate. Do you have broken terra cotta pottery? Place pieces around your garden to create spaces, homes for toads, lizards, spiders to set up shop, better yet, if you find toads in your yard, relocate them to your garden, same with spiders, especially golden orb weavers.

For a list of plants that bees love, check out this link: http://www.themelissagarden.com/

2. Let your yard run wild.
Who wants a yard that is uniform, populated by a single species of grass, with no variation or diversity whatsoever? Well, HOA's tend to demand it of your front yard, but I say, do as you please in the backyard! Let the clover grow, let the henbit, deadnettle and dandelions and whatever else pops up flourish. I love the diversity of nature, seeing the various random plants pop up in my backyard is a treat for me with the added bonuses of lending to a more healthy backyard ecosystem, reduced herbicide use, and occasional edible plants to pluck from time to time. Henbit, deadnettle and dandelions are all edible, if your yard is thick with them, at a certain point, the entire yard becomes one big garden. Whomever decided to call these wonderful plants "weeds" needs to truly rethink their perspective.

3. Water the bees.
Bees are thirsty. Birdbaths aren't just for birds. Bees have been known to frequent fresh water set out in birdbaths and this helps them to keep on flying at full force. Set a few stones in the water so that the bees have something to land on and crawl around on as they get a drink.

4. Buy local, organic produce.
Supporting local farmers who produce crops using sustainable, pesticide-free practices ensures that there is that much less pesticide in the environment. 5. Buy local, raw honey.

5. Support your local beekeepers, keep them in business, keep their hives profitable. Added benefit of local honey is that eating local honey has been shown to reduce allergies. By eating local honey, your body takes in and acclimates to the region's pollen and is better able to tolerate that pollen when it starts blowing around in full.

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring about the bee situation. As an added treat, below is a label that's decades old, it's from when my grandparents up in Platteville Wisconsin had their farm operation going strong. They kept some bees and sold the honey around town and this is one of the labels that they had on the product. 

For more information on bees and details of the protection of honeybees and bumble bees, please visit Scientific American article US Lists a Bumble Bee Species as Endangered for First Time and Xerces.org.

Other resources to save the bees:
sos-bees.org/
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-bees/
https://savebees.org/

Sign this petition and this petition at Xerces.org.

Thanks for reading. Peace.

Parks At Stake

My heart breaks as I read Trump's An America First Energy Plan; the impending devastation that this threatens to wreak upon America's National Parks is simply gut-wrenching.

"We must take advantage of the estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that the American people own." -Trump

No, sir, we must not take advantage of these resources, for they are beneath protected lands which, as you said, the American people own. We all own our federal lands, they belong to all, not to you to sell off to oil mongers and fracking companies. We do not want to see these lands clear cut, strip mined, decimated beyond repair just so that some oil company can make a few bucks on what crude resource might lie beneath Yosemite or Grand Teton. This makes me seriously weep. This is why I did not vote for him. We're on the verge of saying goodbye to polar bears because there's oil in the arctic, saying goodbye to bison, wolves, bears, moose, beavers, because there's some natural gas to be fracked under federal land, Yosemite or the Smoky Mountains, saying goodbye to the flora and fauna of Hawaii because there might be something to be dug out of Haleakala, saying goodbye to the ancient trees of Redwood National Forest, Sequoia, because there might be something under the ground that we can burn up, stick in our gas tanks.



This is now the state of things. This is what we are up against. As an environmentalist, lover of nature, as a sensible human with an eye to the future, as someone who sheds tears when we lose another animal to extinction, someone who worries for the loss of habitat due to global warming, loss of glaciers, acidification of oceans and bleaching of coral reefs, this type of mentality that we need to treat the Earth like an exploitable enemy instead of respecting, nurturing and caring for it just hurts my heart, it hurts me at my core.

Disconcerting too is the fact that the Climate Change page and all mention of it has been scrubbed from whitehouse.gov, along with LQBTQ protections and the Civil Rights pages. There is an effort to reverse the progress we've all collectively made toward making this a more just, tolerant, thriving and prosperous world, both civically as well as environmentally. As this blog's focus is nature, the outdoors, clearly the environmental havoc that is about to be unleashed concerns me, but as a fellow human being and citizen, I want to see those around me treated fairly and equally and enjoy the same rights as anyone else. This disregard for all the things that I hold dear, from my friends and family, neighbors, and fellow citizens to the great outdoors, nature in all its glory and beauty and nuance and diversity of life, I fear for the future at this moment. I fear that my daughter may not have the natural wonders to enjoy, Sequoia park, Chattahoochee National Forest, the Blue Ridge Mountains, because some prospector might find a well of untapped oil down beneath the Poplars and Loblolly pines, beneath the trout streams and hiking trails, one of our President's friends might want to do some fracking, but there are these ancient, splendid, towering trees in his way so they're now standing in the way of "progress." There are some things that should be off limits to our destructive hand if for no other reason than the fact that some, nay, most, destruction is permanent. We will not be able to get these treasures back once they are gone. And for what? Some oil in a car's gas tank? Preposterous! Simply buy an electric car. Natural gas to heat a home? Nope, I've got wind energy thanks to Arcadia Power.

We can do better than this. We need to do more to try to protect the environment, the assault has strengthened and we need to stand up and fight back. My resolve is strengthened to continue to do my part for the environment, even finding ways to do more. The other day, MLK Day, in fact, National Day of Service, I spent time at Oakland Cemetery working with Trees Atlanta and a myriad of volunteers, planting, digging, etc. and I intend to perform many more hours of hard labor, invest sweat equity into environmental causes around Atlanta. Please join me in this effort!

Go out and get your hands dirty! If you're looking for a place to start, please check out Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Trees Atlanta, Earth Share Georgia, Georgia Water Coalition, donate to these groups, or volunteer your time, or donate to National Parks Foundation or any number of other environmental nonprofit groups. I like to believe that if we all step up, we will stand a chance at protecting our environment, our Earth, ourselves even. Peace.