A next-door neighbor of mine saw a colony of bees swarming
in her tree earlier today. As the bees were moving around quite a lot in the area, she immediately
called a company to come take care of the bees. By the time I arrived on the scene all that
was left of this colony was a bunch of half-dead bees. I know that no one wants
to be stung by a bee, but the last time I saw a colony like this, they moved on
within a day.
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| Before you call to kill - try a beekeeper! |
We don't need colony collapse disorder to decimate our bee population. The city of Tucson has laws against keeping bees in the city limits and I
counted 20 bee exterminating companies listed in the yellow pages. That being
said, local bee-keepers will often come and remove a colony of bees without
killing them – at a discount price of what others will come and spray the bees
for.
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| The few living bees are trying to make sense of it all. |
This tragic event leaves one to ask questions such as, "Does anyone know how most of our fruits and vegetables are pollinated? Will I have to self-pollinate my
veggies this year? Does anyone care?"
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Who will pollinate my garden this year?
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| I found this poster in New Mexico. To find more like it, go to Pollinator.org |
I really think we have ignorant people who either don't care or just want life to go on the easy way where they can remain ignorant and buy their food which has never been an issue for them. My neighbors also spray lots of chemicals which also lead to killing pollinators. We are a country that is still chemical dependent for everything as it is the easy way....of course the chemical ads as spring starts is disgusting as well.
ReplyDeleteHow tragic. There are so many who are oblivious to the circle of life and the wonders of nature. I have considered going door to door in my neighborhood to educate them on the damage they are doing with their blanket spraying of this and that. They have no idea of the damage they cause.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Tucson doesn't allow beekeeping in the city limits. That just boggles my mind. They probably don't allow chickens either. I live in a semi-rural neighborhood surrounded by subdivisions. My neighbor across the street is a beekeeper which gives me access to local honey, the best you can get for your allergies. He has talked about putting one of his hives on my property and I've asked my Dad not to spray Round-Up after the bees come here to live. I, personally, no longer use chemicals.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment.
DeleteActually, in most of Tucson you can have chickens - just no roosters! I'm not sure what brought about the "no bee" policy but it is pretty strictly enforced. I don't use any chemicals either. Chemicals have just never been worth the long-lasting trouble they cause, even when they are only supposed to be present in the ground for a "limited time" they definitely leave a toxic chemical legacy behind.