Bee Aware

I promise I won't spend this whole post making Bee puns, but Bees are something that interests us.  We live in a very rural area, as I've mentioned in the past, and there are lots of agricultural crops all around us.  Many nearby farmers grow corn to feed their livestock, and there are also bean fields and hay crops.  We grow our own vegetable garden too, small, compared to the hundreds of acres at some farms, but enjoyable for us.

This little guy is very important to all growing things, and I'm sure you're aware of the concern about the health of bee colonies all over the world. We like to do what we can to encourage the Bees here on the farm.  I've planted things they like, including Bee Balm, Lambs Ears, Lavender, and we have lots of Clover in our pastures.  They also love to find sheltered water sources, and Bird Baths work well for this.

This is Bee Balm in my front garden, and if you look carefully, you can see the Bees.  As you can see, I won't be starting a new career as a Nature Photographer any time soon.

I've recently learned that not all Bees live in colonies.  There is a great post about it on arkinspace.com, which should be on your Blog reading list if you enjoy animals and nature.

Here's an excerpt from that post:

This remarkable structure can be found in Place des Jardins  in Paris and is known as a bee hotel. You may be wondering what bees need a hotel for, when they make their own hives. The truth is that many species of bees are solitary – the do not live in hives but instead construct their own nest. The main reason for this is because in these species every female is fertile and this would not make for comfortable communal living in a hive.

Bee hotels are necessary for a number of different reasons. To begin with bee populations have been on a decline in recent years. Part of the problem is that their natural habitats have been cleared to make way for intensive agriculture. Pesticides have also been instrumental in their decline.  

You can learn more about this, and see some amazing Bee Hotels, as well as some very simple ways to provide homes for Bees here - Bee Hotels.

Have a happy weekend, from the Dog and me.