LILL's LIST

Almost everyone knows that bees are disappearing. Almost a third of the honeybees have disappeared in the US in the past three years. This is not good news for our food supply or the environment. While scientists work on the causes of Colony Collapse, as they call it, what can we do to help the bees survive?

I asked myself that question yesterday when I was walking in my backyard, listening to the loud hum of thousands of big, fat honeybees. They were all over the old apple trees that dot our sixty acres. When we moved here, we thought of cutting them down, because they’re not much good for producing usable apples.

With their scraggly branches, skimpy blossoms and tiny, misshapen apples, they added nothing to the landscape. Or so we thought. We were on the point of offering them to our neighbor for firewood, when we realized that the trees were an important part of the ecosystem that surrounds our house. The deer eat the apples. Wild turkeys feed under the trees, probably getting grubs and insects that are attracted to the trees. Sometimes the turkeys roost in the apple trees.

And then there are the bees. Every spring, each tree is loaded with honeybees, gathering pollen for their hives. True, there are many wildflowers, flowering bushes and wild cherries for the bees, but the apple trees supply a major part of their pollen needs. So we decided to let them stay and pruned them – even topped some of them. They started to come back and blossomed profusely instead of skimpily. More and more bees visited, which encouraged the apples to blossom more.

Now, there are probably twenty to thirty good-sized trees on our property, all providing pollen and shelter for the bees and other creatures. Birds nest in them. We have a pair of beautiful red Cardinals in one and two Pine Grosbeaks in another. They furnish us with enough usable apples to make a batch of applesauce each fall, and also feed the deer and the squirrels through most of the winter.

When I walk beneath the backyard apple trees and hear the humming of the bees, I feel like I’m making a positive contribution to the environment. I’ve always been fond of bees, but now I feel a new urgency to protect them and do everything possible to make sure that they remain to do their important part toward preserving life, both human and Apian, on earth.

If you’d like to learn more about Colony Collapse and what you can do to protect and support the bees, The Natural Resources Defense Council has much more information on the subject.

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1. The Buzz From Europe Could Save Our Food Crops
2. Have You Heard About the Birds and the Bees?
3. Colony Collapse: This Could “Bee” Good News
4. 5 Simple Ways To Stay Green When You Can’t Afford To