I got an email from a Lady in California who works for a Public broadcasting company in San Fransisco.They do lots of videos, radio shows, and reports about the environment in California.They have done interesting broadcasts about honey bee's and wild bee's in California. The problems they have had with the vast amount of agriculture they relys on pollinators to make the crop fruit.
The farmers fields are huge, and the death of millions of colonys of bees threatened the Agricultural backbone.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6438373.stm
They report on the short term measures put in place which have helped the crops, and ongoing research.
I will embed the videos and I hope they are watchable, as i have struggled this morning to get them working. But they did last night!
Better Bees: Super Bee and Wild Bee
Attract Native Bees to Your Garden
The UK has the same problem with Declining bee populations. The gardening leaders here advocate planting wildflowers, and traditional plants that can attract bee's and butterflys.A rich, diversely planted garden will create the best environment for wildlife to visit your garden.
The great thing about this here in the UK, and in the USA is people can do things in their own backyards. They dont have to travel anywhere. Its like a bottom layer up movement, to protect traditional plants, and to save the bee's that pollinated plants rely on, to provide fruit and flowers, and to ensure a good genetic mix of the next generation of plants.
I also love Bee's and can spend hours watching them and photographing them. Natures own black and yellow garden spirits. They fly around me but sense I am no danger.Even when i have disturbed one deeply embedded in a flower they just alight, and fly to the next nectar rich flower.
9 comments:
Great post.
I have known for quite some time that our bee population had declined. I did a post about that some time ago. When I was a girl I could stand under our Gravenstein Apple tree, look up through the blossoms and see hundreds upon hundreds of honeybee's doing their job. Several times this spring I stood under the same tree and I couldn't find even one honey bee, or any other kind for that matter.
I prayed the Lord would send some to polinate so I would get a few apples.
I never did see any bees while the tree was in bloom, but I have apples.
Now about the artificial insemination for honey bees. I never heard of it but it sure is interesting that they can even do such a thing.
May wonders never cease?
Thanks for your comment Mountain Moma, its a good memory to have of millions of bee's in the Apple tree.If you had apples some pollination had occured so maybe your prayers were answered.
I found it mad that they imported 800,000 colonys of Bee's to California.The BBC website showed the Beeman travveling around the USA with his hives to help pollination.Even his bee's had been killed over the winter.
Only two people in the USA do bee insemination.Here in the UK they have tougher bee's in Northumberland than the softer ones imported in the south.
The bee's plight has even reached the White Office there.
If ordinary people help the bee's with wildflowers and native plants then their will be hope.
I will look for your bee post too.I wander what your apple tree looks like :)
Another bee plant is green (salad) onion. Just plant the bottom cut-off root end, then let the plant grow until it flowers. It will get about 1-3 feet tall and develop a big "ball" made up of tiny flowers in late spring/early summer. Green onion plants are super easy to grow, in a pot or in the ground. I have just a few of them growing, but recently this has been the one plant in my yard that I see bees visiting most often, so I'm getting more started. Have a salad, help a bee :D
Hi Lorri,Thanks for the Idea of another bee plant.My list would include field poppys, Lavender, Dahlias,Snapdragons.Do you mean a scallion root (called spring onion here?).
I have planted some Alium seeds from Harlow Carr.They grow into imposing flowering balls of purple and white stars, then the dried seed heads are amazing afterwards.
The Alium flower balls look like fireworks too :)
Send me a photo if you can through email so i know what to plant when I have a garden!
The bee's will be grateful for all the nectar rich plants you can give them.They had been overlooked untill Fall 2006 when the scientists realised a world without pollinating bee's would be sparsely fruited and flowered.
They are truly good garden spirits to attract into your yard.Thanks for the comment Lori :)
Very good post. I too encorage bees into my garden, seeking out flowers that they especially like. I worry about the bio-divercity of bees, where they have only one species to pollinate crops, for example. Yesterday, I took notice of all the pollinators on my blackberry flowers, and there were many types.
Snappy, I saw that the honeysuckle died.. awwww.. Well, as soon as you have a proper outside garden, I'll send you another cutting, oki? Along with the black mondo grass as well. I think honeysuckle likes being outside. ;-)
Hi Salix tree,its good that you attract bee's into your garden.A report today on Reuters said the largest concentration of honeybees was in suburban gardens, not meadows or woods.
I will wait for a house before attempting honeysuckle :(
The woody stem just snapped one day, and i tried for a few weeks to revive smaller cuttings with no success.Thanks :)
Very nice blog. I like the posting.
I also found a nice article about honey in Paris. Here is the link:
http://www.allorenta.com/paris_information/article.php?id=1&version=uk
Regards
Thanks Jean,Would you believe that the Opera Garnier house has beehives!
Thanks for the link!
hi,
this is peter,I have planted some Alium seeds from Harlow Carr.They grow into imposing flowering balls of purple and white stars, then the dried seed heads are amazing afterwards.
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peter
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