Here’s the Buzz By
We’ve posted a bunch on our Facebook lately about the benefits of honey and the good the helpful little workers do for seasonal allergies. It is becoming clearer that eating a little local honey on a regular basis can help your body build up a resistance to the pollens that make you sniffle and itch. We liked that idea so much that we stocked up a hive’s worth of Bearer Farms Honey. But wait: there’s more…
Aside from the benefits of honey and bee pollen the little fellas help us in pollination for flowering plants. “Flowers?” you scoff? Tomatoes? Flowers. Melons? Flowers. If it bears a fruit then it produces flowers. The American Beekeeping Federation says that we can thank our buzzing friends for every third bite that we consume.
Over the past couple of years there has been an alarming decline in feral bee populations. Starting around 1979 bee watchers have seen a steady loss of colonies worldwide and in 2009 1/3 of U.S. honey bee colonies didn’t survive the winter. In 2007 they coined it “colony collapse disorder”. Last year West Coast beekeepers reported a 30 to 60% loss in hives while some on the East Coast saw as much as a 70% loss. Scientists have a number of theories for this. They identified a “bee virus” that coupled with a fungus to kill off colonies but it wasn’t the whole story. Studies showed that urbanization, mites and pesticide use were also contributing factors. Now this: your mobile device. Yup. Call a doctor; we’re confusing the bees. It seems that in an active hive a few off the bees give a shout out to the gang that says, “Hey guys! Let’s go eat!” They fly off in search of delicious pollen and bring it back to the hive to make honey. The close proximity of a mobile device sending or receiving a call while near a hive increased this chatter by 10 times. Not only that, but if a bee sensed an active device near a hive they were more likely to stay away. All of our chatter and Facebook updating confused their chatter and Beebook updating. “@appletree. C’mon over!”
So what can we do? Be Bee friendly! Wildlife corridors and scenic byways provide great bee fodder. Get some greenery going at your home with some tasty and colorful flora. Who says you can’t grow edibles on your balcony? You naturally want to avoid pesticides and check to make sure that what you’re growing is on a bee menu. Most of all, find some good local honey! Come on down to The Urban Farmhouse and we’ll get you started!
