Disappearing Bee Problem is Escalating

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Disappearing Bee Problem is Escalating - How to Help

07/02/08

Disappearing Bee Problem is Escalating - How to Help

12:29:30 pm, Categories: Water/Food Decline, Environmental/Weather , Tags: bees, decline, environment, food

The plight of the honey bee is steadily getting worse. While scientist have been able to give the problem a scientific sounding name of colony collapse disorder no one yet can definitively state what is causing the major decline in the bee population. Yes, they all have theories... but not one scientist has yet been able to prove that their theory is in fact what is causing the problem.

What I find scary is that now the problem is bad enough that it can be observed by 'Average Joes' such as myself. I'm certainly no scientist, yet I have been able to see the effects. Normally when I mow my lawn with my old fashioned reel mower, I have to be careful around my clover patches in my lawn. The bees used to love my clover flowers. My clover is in full bloom, yet when I mowed it... for the first time that I can remember I didn't see a single bee. Every time I go to my kitchen window I peek out to see if I can observe any bees, so far I've seen none.

The bees should love my clover, I use no petroleum based fertilizer or chemical weed killer on my lawn. The birds surely prefer my chemical free lawn to my surrounding neighbors. They have a buffet of 'organic' worms and grubs to choose from. So, why where did my bees go? Why don't they want my 'organic' clover anymore? Well, I'm sure they would enjoy my clover if they were around, but obviously they aren't around anymore to enjoy the clover.

When I was most struck by the problem was when I recently went to my local outdoor 5 acre nursery about a mile from my house. They have 5 acres of beautiful blooming shrubs, vines and various flowering plants. I have spent hours in there over the last few weeks picking out various plants. Normally, I would see many bees enjoying the wonderful array of flowers. But, this year you might wonder how many bees I saw. Well, you likely guessed it, I saw not even one.

So, what can we collectively do to help? Here's a few ideas that I have come up with. We should make our yards as bee friendly as possible for any remaining bees. My wife and I have planted many shrubs and ground covers that are high in amount of flowers and pollen. We've also staggered blooming times so that we always have some plants blooming between early spring up to winter. Of course if you have allergies I wouldn't recommend doing this. But, if flowering plants and shrubs don't bother you then go for it! Also, I would recommend not using harmful fertilizers or weed killers on your grass or bushes as this could cause problems for the bees. We noticed our local nursery carries bee houses and are considering getting one of those as a safe haven for any remaining bees. I'm no expert so I'd love ideas from you. Go ahead and share your ideas by leaving a comment to this article or starting a discussion in the discussion area of this website.

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1 comment

Comment from: CarrieT [Visitor]

We have always had very bee-friendly landscaping and I always grow a veggie garden in containers. This year, as usual, we had different types bees in our flowers until the last week in June. Then, all of a sudden, there were no more bees. I have to look around all day to find one or two bees and this is with flowers, plants and ground covers all in glorious bloom. There are also no wasps anywhere. The bees that I have seen in the past week are not taking their time on the flowers. They are landing on a flower and almost immediately flying away. So, it doesn't even look as though they are doing any pollinating. I have been an avid natural gardener in this area (east of Seattle) for 15 years and I have never before been without bees and wasps. And the fact that they were around until a week ago is very strange. I am sad that others are experiencing this loss. Once the bees leave, what can we do?

07/04/08 @ 13:41

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