This morning I was reading in Mother Earth Living magazine about bees*. There was a url that led to using bees in the garden. I would love to have some honey bees someday!
But here is something interesting about bees; If you haven't heard already, the bee population is dying out and no one seems to be able to figure out why. That is, until recently.
There is some thought that a chemical used on seeds is now the leading belief that the bees are dying off. If we continue to use this chemical, will honey bees become extinct?
Here is an excerpt from the article that you might find interesting. It explains why this chemical is bad for bees and how it works. If it is bad for bees, is it good for us?
"The class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids is suspected to be one of the major causes of bee die-offs. The pesticides, nicknamed “neonics,” were introduced in the 1990s and have become the most widely used insecticide in the world—so ubiquitous that they are now found in 80 percent of the world’s crops. They come coated on virtually every seed planted in every major crop across the country—sunflowers, canola, cotton, soybeans and corn, for example. Neonics are systemic; they are taken up and move freely through the entire plant making every part of it toxic. When ingested, the compounds can cripple a bee’s navigational skills and its ability to find its way home after foraging. They may also interfere with a honeybee’s intricate “waggle dance” that tells other bees where to find flowers. Neonics can also undermine bees’ immune systems."
I wonder why this chemical is just now under investigation. How long have we been eating food from plants that are affected by neonicotinoids?
There are garden seed companies such as Baker's Creek and Pinetree Seeds should be safe to use.
The other end of this spectrum is to get good, pure seeds and use those which will attract bees. I think this could be fun. Maybe it is possible to build our own bee habitat and make our gardens bee friendly.
More on this later.
http://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/gardening-for-bees-zmgz15mazhou.aspx
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