This morning I got the first newsletter from my honey share. Our family is a member of a number of community-supported agriculture ventures. This means that we have shares in local farms that produce vegetables, fruit, grain, and honey, among other things. I love supporting local farms and I especially love the fresh, local produce.
The honey share is a new one for us. We’re looking forward to getting some fresh, local honey produced by hard-working little bees. However, in recent years there have been so many tales of bee colonies collapsing. This makes me a little concerned, not for my honey supply in particular but for the bees in general. They are key pollinators, and I want our crops and flowers to grow. Without bees, many of the crops that we count on would not exist.
Farmers now move bees into fields when the flowers bloom. This is useful for the farmers, but unless you have a rural acreage and a honeybee hive, this won’t help the suburban or urban gardener. What we need to do is support our local bees.
Bees, you say? Many people are afraid to invite bees to the yard. In reality, most backyard bees are not particularly aggressive. Wasps look similar to bees, and they are the ones who seek out your picnic lunch, because they are predators and love the smell of food.
In North America, there are a number of different sorts of bees. While you might think of the honeybee as the major bee because it is famous, the mason bee and the bumblebee are also extremely important. Mason bees are little dark-colored solitary bees that are very non-aggressive. They are important pollinators who make their nests in holes. If you do not have a lot of old trees in your yard, you might consider buying or making a home where they can lay their eggs.
Bumblebees are only a little more aggressive than mason bees. These are the furry, bumbling critters who love your comfrey and your foxgloves. Bumblebees live in holes in a loose sort of hive that is quite different from that of the honeybee. They are in danger due to pesticides because pesticides hurt the bugs who eat your garden but also damage bee populations. To invite these bees to pollinate your food plants and flowers, plant the things that bees love. These plants vary by region, so check with your local garden center for a good list. You can also make your bees happy by switching to organic methods of pest control.
If you want to build a successful garden, you need to think about soil and water. However, you also need to think about the animals that will pollinate your crops. Building a happy bee population is one of the keys to gardening success, and the bees will thank you too.
Image courtesy of samspics at stock exchange.