I’m thinking about buying a beehive.<\/p>\n
I want honey bees, but my brother is leaning more toward bumble bees. Either way, I’m hoping to help out my tomatoes and other vegetables.<\/p>\n
Plus taking care of a hive of native bees helps with conservation*.<\/p>\n
Because bees have really taken a pounding of late. There’s a real concern that we’ll be looking at the extinction of several species.<\/p>\n
“We’ve had several end-of-hive events take place recently. And there’s quite a lot of reason to be concerned” – is the mildest way I can describe it.<\/p>\n
Really, we’re looking at a potential environmental catastrophe.<\/p>\n
1. Without the bees, there’s going to be a lot more biting insects. (There’s a niche for most everything. And if an opening is created, something is always willing to move in and fill it.)<\/p>\n
2. With the depletion of a hive’s numbers, they are left vulnerable to predatory insects. (Hornets, yellow jackets, all kinds of things can get inside a weakened hive, kill the queen, and use the bees as a food for their young.)<\/p>\n
3. Without bees to do the work, gardeners will have to seek other means of pollinating their crops. (Remember my zucchini plants that didn’t zucchini?)<\/p>\n
4. Without bees there won’t be any honey. (And that would be a real tragedy, because who in their right mind doesn’t love the taste of honey? Sweetness that can be cultivated super easily.)<\/p>\n
5. Without bees you won’t see a bumbling buzzing body bobbing and weaving from flower to flower, making the world bloom. (The sight of a fat bumble bee with its small wings busily flapping as it dances over a patch of clover is a nostalgic memory.)<\/p>\n
Bees are an essential part of the world.<\/p>\n
It would be a real tragedy if we wiped them out. The world would definitely be a lesser place without them.<\/p>\n
* I might have to switch to buying a bunch of mason bees. I’m pretty sure they’re what’s local, as I saw them being sold at the Little Valley Nursery back in the spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"