I keep finding honey bees on the sidewalk, usually dazed and walking in circles. I offer them my finger for a ride to a safe place so that they don't get stepped on. They'll sit on my finger, cleaning their little antennae before buzzing off into the sky. I had the pleasure of walking with one for a couple of blocks once! They'll fly up on my kitchen window to peek in on me and occasionally fly into the house and I'll have to shoo away the cats before they try to eat them.
We have so much to thank them for.
Once I've done a bit more personal research, I'd like to dedicate a day or few days even, to honor the bee and her tireless labor.
I hope there are bees left in the world when I have grandkids, fields of dead bees seem to be popping up everywhere :( and she's so badass too...
ReplyDelete@Angelina - I hear you. It's really depressing thinking about where the honey bee is heading. I've really been wanting to see the documentary Queen of the Sun (http://www.queenofthesun.com/) but I don't know if I want to see it if it's just going to be a huge downer. Without them, our world and diets would be bland and bleak.
ReplyDeleteAnd that really makes me wonder why there aren't larger conservation efforts. We depend on that animal the way we depend on a lot of insects, and yet here we are making their lives too difficult.
ReplyDeleteI wonder where the last refuge of the bee will be, because hospitable environments are becoming scarce for them and there doesn't seem to be a ton of concern about this.
Oh, I heard about Queen of the Sun at the Environmental Forum NW, and I really want to see it, though I'm sure it will be a total bummer...
Hope you keep finding little drunk bees and not any dead ones :(
@Angelina - I know of http://www.pollinator.org they're a conservation/education group. They even have a cool planting guide for each area of the US to attract pollinators to landscapes and whatnot! They also have a honey bee research program - which I plan to donate to when I have the bones for it.
ReplyDelete@witchofforestgrove - That I didn't know! It's both good and bad to hear I guess.
I did see her altar, and that drum - so beautiful.
That's an amazing site, I wouldn't mind getting involved with them. I see they're targeting younger generations in their conservation effort and that's an incredibly smart idea- instilling environmental values that young.
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