It's All About the Bees
Where would we be without our bees? We wouldn't be around!
Humans eat honey from bees, use their wax, and rely on them to help us grow our food.
Bees are responsible for pollinating about 85% of all the food crops for humans. Without the honeybees, predictions have been made that we would have an environmental collapse!
Bees play a very important part in the life cycle of most plants and flowers. Without them, most plants would have no way to reproduce resulting in a die out.
Many bee species have died out over the years due to diseases, parasites, pesticides, and destruction of their main food sources. In the absence of bees, crops have been lost and, eventually, certain plants will become extinct.
The bee pictured above is a Mason bee. Mason bees are solitary bees. They are known to be the master pollinators in the garden. Solitary bees are non-aggressive and gentle. They are even gentler than honeybees since they don't have a hive to protect them. In fact, only 30% of solitary bees have stingers (females). Even females with stingers don't sting unless they are being smashed or directly threatened.
What Can We Do To Help The Bee Population?
My first thought is to have a beehive but most of us don't have the right environment for that to happen. Instead, how about adding a flower garden to your landscape? Bees are creatures of habit. If you plant it, they will make your yard a part of their routine. Flowers will not only provide the food bees need, but they will also open up pollination to flowers and crops in the area as well.
Here are a few tips on what to plant;
Plant a variety of blooming plants.
Plant brightly colored flowers like yellows, purples, and blues.
Plant native pollinator plants like Bee Balm, Asters, Clover, and Lupin.
Choose plant varieties that bloom throughout the whole season such as Black-eye Susan, Dahlia, Petunias, and Lavender.
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