~Emily Dickinson
Celebrating Bees
"One-third of the world's food supply depends on bees for pollination. Every year in California alone, honeybees pollinate more than 100 crops worth more than $6 billion, including vegetables, nuts (notably almonds), fruit and wildflowers. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or from a colony of European honeybees, Apis mellifera, suddenly disappear.
To produce their own drug-free queens, a few Marin County beekeepers are breeding queens that are able to detect a hive infested with mites and other pathogens, kill and remove the damaged brood, and thus protect the rest of the hive from infection. Also, University of California researchers are selectively breeding bees that hoard pollen, as this trait enables these bees to maintain their nutritional requirements over the winter and concomitantly protects them from succumbing to CCD.
To learn more about bees and CCD watch PBS' Silence of the Bees: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/silence-of-the-bees/video-podcast/69/ and for bee-friendly gardening, visit the farm at the College of Marin's Indian Valley campus. Bethallyn Black, the farm manager, working with Steve Smart, a local organic bee grower, is installing five beehives, each with an organic queen bee and pheromone to attract feral male drones from untreated hives. These hives will not be sprayed with toxic chemicals for pathogens, such as mites. The goal is to breed queens with feral males in the midst of myriad flowers and vegetables attractive to bees on this productive organic farm. The mix of pollens available in the farm's garden will provide the building blocks for the best bee diet and most robust bees. It's hoped this type of endeavor will inspire beekeepers in other parts of the country and world to raise bees without the use of pesticides, herbicides or other unnatural or harmful substances, so that bee populations will begin to be restored to their former health." Full Marin IJ article click here
Creating a Bee Friendly Garden
Bees are all about pollen. If you want to support the many different varieties of bees which range through your yard, plant some things which will feed them.
The good news here is that bee-friendly plants are easy to grow. Scatter a variety through your yard, ensuring a good supply of pollen through the warm months. Bees prefer flowers that are blue, purple, or yellow.
Clover is a great choice. Bees love it, and clover makes attractive and robust ground cover. There are organic varieties available.
Other bee-yummy plants: sage, salvia, oregano, lavender, ironweed, yarrow, yellow hyssop, alfalfa, honeywort, dragonhead, echinacea, bee balm (guess where the name comes from?), buttercup, goldenrod, and English thyme.
Flowering trees are also attractive to bees. Try tulip poplars, tupelos, oranges, and sourwoods. Don’t forget that bees need sources of shallow water.
Unless you have particular bee allergies, don’t be afraid of attracting pollinators to your property. The “bees” that give most people trouble — yellowjackets, wasps, and hornets — aren’t really bees at all, and won’t be attracted by bee-friendly plants.
Local San Rafael Honey Contact:
Bill Pappy
willbpappy@hotmail.com
415 499 1099
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