National Honey Bee Awareness Day (August 22, 2009)
Busy Bee Facts:
- Worldwide we rely on honey bee pollination for one-third of our total food supply!
- Honey bees as the main pollinators on the planet are responsible for seeding over 100 crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
- The honey bee contributes $15 billion in crops every year in the U.S. alone.
- Honey bees must visit 2 million flowers and fly 55,000 miles to create each pound of honey
Sources:
- Agnew, Singeli. "The Almond and the Bee." San Francisco Chronicle 14 Oct. 2007.
-"Tales from the Hive: The Buzz About Bees." PBS Nova Online. October 2000.
The History of The Honey Bee
A Short History of the Honey Bee: Humans, Flowers, and Bees in the Eternal Chase for Honey
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/05/2009)
There are around 16,000 species of bee. Only seven of these are responsible for creating the world's sweetest treat -- honey. Combining Ilona's gorgeous photography and E. Readicker-Henderson's engaging text, A Short History of the Honey Bee follows the journey from flower to hive to honey throughout history.
A Honey Bee Alert!
The Disappearance of The Honey Bee
Across the United States in the last three years, more than one in three honey bee colonies has died out. The disappearance of these natural little wonders are creating a risk to our food supply.One cause of these losses is due to a mysterious ailment called Colony Collapse Disorder, or "CCD." When a hive collapses, the honey bees vanish and die. This has been reported in over 35 states across the U.S. and is a growing problem in Canada, Belgium and Spain
Researchers don't know exactly what causes CCD. Some think there may be many factors contributing to the problem; these include the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), Varroa Mites- tiny, brown relatives of ticks that feed exclusively on honey bees, synthetic chemical exposure- affected hives show 45 different types of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, and poor nutritional sources due to drought.
Source: "Disorder Caused 45% of Bee Losses." The Daily Green Online. 14 June 2007.
Save The Honey Bee!
Plant a Bee-Friendly Garden.
There are many factors that make a garden bee-friendly.Research has shown that bees are attracted to gardens with a variety of flowers. Select plants with a long growing season or a group of plants that together offers blooms from spring through fall. In addition, you might consider leaving a few weeds such as dandelions and white clover, as these provide nutritious sources of pollen and nectar.
Most Bees build their nests in soil. Mulch is now used in most gardens and is highly promoted as the "eco-friendly" method for suppressing weeds and saving water, unfortunately it also discourages ground-nesting bees. Try to use mulch sparingly, leaving about 50% of your garden in bare dirt - this helps both the bees and other useful organisms to thrive.
Avoid insecticides in your garden. Instead, promote good bugs (called 'beneficial insects') in your garden.
Download a Free Honey Bee Garden Guide From Haagen Dazs.
Source: nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens
Bring The Bees Home
Lori Schory Save the Bees 1000pc Jigsaw Puzzle
Amazon Price: $10.68 (as of 12/05/2009)
Nick & Nora Envelope Set,Save The Bees,one size
Amazon Price: $19.10 (as of 12/05/2009)
Nick & Nora Mini Dome Set,Save The Bees,one size
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Nick & Nora East West Set,Save The Bees,one size
Amazon Price: $25.00 (as of 12/05/2009)
The Disappearing Honey Bee
Honey Bees by Wikipedia
:This article refers collectively to all true honey bees; for the "common" domesticated honey bee, see European honey bee
Honey bees (or honeybees) are a subset of bees, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of Category: wiktionary - :perennial|perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis. Currently, there are only seven recognized species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies (Engel, 1999) though historically, anywhere from six to eleven species have been recognized. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.
Did You Learn Something New Today?
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Reply
- clouda9 clouda9 Jul 15, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
- Thanks for providing this very vital information. Great holiday to celebrate too. Buy some honey from a local farmer...it helps finance their operation and the honey will help you with those yucky seasonal allergies :)
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Reply
- WebSpinstress WebSpinstress Jul 13, 2009 @ 1:46 pm
- Fantastic lens - a great tribute to raise awareness of the necessity of honey bees! :-)
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Reply
- wombat666 wombat666 Jul 8, 2009 @ 8:15 pm
- Hi, Great lens on bees. I am very fond of bees and often have to save them when they have fallen into water containers in the garden. Like Kiwisoutback though, I have not seen them around much in the last year or so. This may be due to the drought we are having. I hope they will come back this spring as there were so few last spring/summer.
I'm glad someone is writing about them - they are not really scary or dangerous if you treat them the right way.
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Reply
- JenOfChicago JenOfChicago Jul 8, 2009 @ 11:29 am
- Great lens, this is really important!
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Reply
- TheGreenerMe TheGreenerMe Jul 8, 2009 @ 6:46 am
- This is the green lens of the week at A Million Ways to Go Green!
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