Tea for Tuesday - Honey Bee Cookie Jar

Bees have a big problem and people aren't sure what to do about it.  They are disappearing and dying in numbers way beyond normal.  The latest round of trouble started in 2006, with beekeepers reporting losses of 30-90% of their hives.  Large-scale unexplained losses also occurred in the 1880s, 1920s, and 1960s.

The average loss over the last five years is 33%.  If this continues, honey bees wouldn't disappear entirely, but consumers would face increased food costs.

About one mouthful in three in our diet is either directly or indirectly related to honey bee pollination.  As an extreme example, almonds are completely dependent on honey bees for pollination. 

Scientists are researching four categories, looking for a solution.  They think it will turn out to be a combination of all of these:

• pathogens (viruses and bacteria)
• parasites
• hive management stressors (overcrowding; stress caused by shipping the hives across the country)
• environmental stressors (pesticides; lack of adequate pollen/nectar; shortage of  pure water)

The public can help with honey bee survival by reducing their use of pesticides, and avoiding the use of them during mid-day when honey bees are most likely to be out visiting flowering plants.  Consider planting native plants (e.g. red clover, bee balm, joe-pye weed), which are good sources of nectar and pollen.

Last fall in France, beekeepers found a rainbow of blues, greens, and reds in their honeycombs.  Their bees had been foraging at a factory that processed waste from making M and M candy, and returned to the hive with colored syrup.  The honey had to be destroyed, since most countries have laws that define honey as having just one ingredient - nectar cured by bees.  Coloring is an adulteration.

Bees prefer nectar, but when blooms are scarce or there's a drought, they collect any sugar they can find.

 My "new" honey bee necklace that I found at a vintage sale last weekend.