sting like a bee

pollination

pollination

fav photo pho sho. taken on st john this past march, we had a small lily pond in back of the house. it used to house fish, but the owners got tired of supplying the birds with food, so now it just houses beautiful flowers.  we were lucky enough to be visiting while a few were in full bloom. and to anna’s shock and delight, they do, in fact, close at night.

speaking of bees, did you know that:

– One out of every the three bites of food an average American eats is directly attributed to honey bee pollination.

or that:

-To produce one pound of honey, honey bees must visit two million flowers and fly 55,000 miles.

now chew on this: Over the last three years more than one in three honey bee colonies has died nationwide, posing a serious risk to our natural food supply. One cause of these losses is an alarming phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder, or “CCD.” When a hive experiences CCD, the honey bees mysteriously desert their hive and die. CCD symptoms have been reported by more than thirty-five states across the U.S. and in many other countries.

so now that we’ve entered the height of “summer food season,” think about who’s doing the behind-the-scenes work and how you can help to ensure you continue to enjoy those sweet-tasting raspberries and lovely flowers. go to www.helpthehoneybees.com to see how you can help. believe it or not, it’s as easy as planting more flowers or throwing a couple of these in your yard.

source: “Disorder Caused 45% of Bee Losses.” The Daily Green Online. 14 June 2007.

photo credit: meghan hochgesang


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