Special guest post by John Fitzgerald
Having recently developed a taste for locally grown honey to help lessen the eye watering and head thumping sneezing affects of seasonal allergies (I bought honey at Fox Hollow Farm in rural Gaithersburg Maryland), I got to day dreaming of a time not so long ago when my parents use to yell at me to not run out to play in the grass without shoes on: “You’ll step on a bee!!!” Of course I didn’t believe them or pause to get shoes on while dashing out to friends, and of course I found out rather quickly how allergic to bee stings I really am. One year in particular, my foot swole up to the size of a pumello and I missed the first two weeks of baseball season. As a 12 year old that was devastating. And even more unfortunately, that event filled summer plus several other unrelated incidents gave my parents the credo to reference how right they are in every conversation for the following 15 years. But I digress.
Which brings us back to our daydreaming of a time not so long ago when bee stings were a real problem most kids had to deal with. So dare I ask, “Where have all the bee stings gone?”
A very legitimate question in these United States when the cross-pollination that bees produce account for about 1/3 of this nation’s food supply. There are theorists out there who blame the usage of pesticides like chemlawn, general chemical use and bug sprays, the not so long ago emergence of Africanized killer bees, parasitic bee mites, and even a lack of good bee doctors not recognizing bee CCD. (Ahhh Ritalin, I am sure there are even honey bees who need to cram for their final exams: “ohhhh malted vinegar, was I suppose to make a hexagon or a heptagon shaped comb?”)
Whether or not pesticide and chemical usage is causation or mere correlation in the decline of the honey bee, the steady loss of bees over time could become a real problem to farmers and the recipients of produce the world over. If the costs to produce pro-duce go up, somebody will have to step up and pay, and it is usually the consumer. So what can you do to help keep the bee alive and dancing? For starters purchase locally grown organic honey. Bee conscious (pun intended) of the effects of pesticides, sprays, chemicals and detergents on the environment. Or even start a bee hive!
In a day and age when even the White House is in on the benefits of locally grown honey, whatever your fancy to blame the disappearance of the U.S. honey bee, be Green and go try some organic locally grown honey!!!
It beats the knickers out of that mass produced store bought stuff, and that’s the bee’s knees!
Signing off from a D.C. farm near you
See what all the buzz is about and visit the bee hive on the south lawn!
Comments
What an interesting article, I had no idea that bees are so important to agriculture.
Nice article on bees and how you should always listen to your parents. It's true, father does know best.
The only little point I would add is that technically no honey in the US is organic unless it is produced on an uninhabited island, or someplace where the honey producer controls all the land in a 4-mile radius of the bee hives and can be sure nothing growing in that very large area is not grown organically. As you can see, that is practically impossible. Bees forage over a 3 mile radius and we can't put little tags on them to make sure they only forage on organic flowers.
I do wonder though if fewer kids are running barefoot through those fields and lawns nowdays, hence less bee stings...all those overprotective moms, you know!
Great Article!
Great Article! The pesticides (and herbicides) being sprayed all around us do not discriminate whether you are a harmful Japanese beetle or the ever so important Honey Bee. These chemicals do not disappear after application… they are in the air we breathe and the soil that bathes the plants that we eat. It is no coincidence that in the past 10-20 years we are seeing the highest occurrence of diseases and cancers in humans and our pets. Thanks again for the great article. Awareness is the key to conservation.
Very insightful article about bees. We need to hear bees buzzing and birds singing to keep the balance in nature that is so important in maintaining the symbiotic relationship of all living creatures on the planet. Our existence relies upon that interdependence of the species.
How very fascinating about the bees. I have heard rumors what when bees go, humans are next...
So Cool!
I'm such a huge fan of local honey and no one takes me seriously!! I didn't realize it had such a macro economic effect; the personal benefits are huge enough for me! Glad to see you're getting this info out there!
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