I read yet another article about the mysterious disappearing honey bees again last night. I think there's a new virus hitting bee colonies in Florida (where Colony Collapse Syndrome was first discovered). These "bee alerts" are starting to run together, and I fear that perhaps we are starting to glaze over yet again, as we do, simply by nature, anytime we're bombarded with constant ongoing terrible news about something. Obesity epidemic? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Global warming? Been there, done that. Brain-eating amoeba? Antibiotic-resistant staph infection? These awful fires this past week in California? Am helpless. Am going to go curl up in fetal position now.
But the bees. The current issue of Organic Gardening magazine has a cover story about the bee crisis, and I expected it to be the same old-same old. But no. Here are the findings:
1. America's top pollinators are in crisis.
2. Native pollinators are already picking up the slack.
3. Organic gardeners can save native pollinators.
You know those flies, moths, beetles and hummingbirds? All pollinators. And for you home gardeners out there whose flowers have been full of bees all summer, making you want to say, "What bee crisis?", your instincts are right. There are about 4,000 different species of native bees in the United States and these gals are working hard. While agribusiness and Big Organics slug it out, us home gardeners can improve the world's food security, one bee at a time.
The trick? Keep stuff planted. Keep providing food sources. Bees love flowers, of course, and planting cover crops now makes sure they'll have an abundant early spring supply (and your soil will thank you as well). Now is the time to get the crimson, red or Dutch clover in. Throw in a little bird bath, if you haven't already done so. And know that in today's world, when the daily news can make you feel like you ought to just pack it in now because the problems out there are just too big, rest assured that there is something you can do that truly matters.
Check out the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign's website. I was particularly impressed by the list of worldwide organizations with which it is partnering. As they sang in High School Musical (the other all-the-rage talk these past couple years), "We're all in this together."
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1 comments:
Why is it that we'ordinary' people can see the links between the way things have gone and the problems we are all facing but those with the ability to do something dramatic about it, just look at each problem in isolation and don't or won't piece it all together?? It is as if, once someone is in power, they get some disease which prevents them from behaving like normal people and makes them into robots for big business.
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