Bee-ing Nice to the Earth

Mason bee couple*

Bean Hill bee house

Today is Earth Day, the day that marks the 47th anniversary of the modern environmental movement. The movement was inspired by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, and achieved through the now unheard of collaboration between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. In its first year, the Earth Day movement resulted in the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clear Air, Clean Water, and the Endangered Species Acts. Today Earth Day is being observed in 184 countries, most of which are headed by officials who acknowledge that climate change is not only real, it is happening now, and threatens the life of every living thing on the planet.

Nesting tubes

Currently the forward progress of the environmental movement in America is threatened by anti-science, dangerously ignorant elected and appointed officials. The rest of us, who recognize that clean air, clean water, and protecting God's creatures are good things, need to remain actively involved in environmental protection efforts. Starting today, think globally and act locally; starting today, think of one thing you will personally do for the Earth's sake.

This week at Bean Hill, we took up bee keeping. Not the labor-intensive, rather fragile hive-dwelling honey bees brought here from Europe, but the native, "solitary", self-sufficient kind. They're also called "gentle" bees because with no hive and no queen to protect, these bees aren't high-strung and aggressive. The bees we introduced to Bean Hill are mason bees, and late in May we'll introduce leafcutter bees.

Bees via U.S.P.S.

Tiny box of 20 bees with tiny ice pack

Colony Collapse Disorder has decimated our honey bee population, depriving us of valuable pollinators, and, in turn, threatening successful food crop production. However, honey bees are not the only pollinators, and compared to native bees, not the most efficient. Native bees collect pollen all over their bodies; honey bees only on their sticky back legs. By gathering more pollen from a flower, each native bee is able to distribute pollen to more plants than a honey bee can.

Mason bee cocoons

Native bees can be introduced to urban areas, without the permits required by many municipalities for honey bee keeping. If you want to encourage population growth of native bees, you need to provide tunnel-like holes where they lay their eggs. In late autumn, you remove the cocoons (masons) or the larvae (leafcutters) from the tubes and store them in a cool, dry place until it's time for their spring release.

My research led me to make Crown Bees my bee resource. Shop now--they're having an Earth Day sale!

As soon as they emerge from their cocoons, each bee looks for a nesting hole

 *Photo by André Karwath aka Aka.This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.