Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The buzz about bees


One of the first things we noticed early this spring was the number of bees buzzing about the yard. We have honeybees, bumblebees and mason bees!

An e-mail just landed in my in-box with a link to a Science Daily report about why bees are dying in professional apiaries, or honey bee colony depopulation syndrome.

Honeybees are dying - that's uncontested (although thankfully not in our garden). However, as far as I know, there isn't consensus as to why. This article points to a parasitic infection as a cause. But what caused the parasite? And what about pesticide use??? Skepticism crept in as I read further... So what treatment has proved to be successful in eradicating the parasite? Wait for it... the treatment is a good dose of antibiotics. Here's a link to the article in case you're interested.

If you care about the bees (and we all should since they pollinate at least 30% of our food supply), then check out Plan Bee Central and read their special report about what we can all do. And taking a page from the Ben & Jerry's cause-related ice cream playbook, next time you're at your local grocery store, pick up some Haagen-Daz Honeybee Ice Cream (and check out their Help the Honeybees site, too - it's so worth the wait! It's open on my computer and I hear birdsong in the background as I type - delightful!). The ice cream is delicious, and it'll help save bees!

Thanks to Janette for the Plan Bee/HD links!

(Photo: Bee & plum blossoms, Shiv's plum tree, planting strip 4/09)

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