Did you know that half the bees in the world are gone? We have killed them with pesticides and other forms of pollution. Bees and butterflies are very important to our survival. Without them we wouldn't have most of our plants (that means FOOD)"To keep the bees and butterflies on earth, you can do the following
1. Plant a pollinator garden. Consider the pollinators you want to attract and plant the plants that they need. A little research will show you what they are. In the case of butterflies, this will include both nectar plants for the adults and host plants for their caterpillars.
2. Build and hang a bee box. There are commercial nest boxes available for mason bees but you can construct a simple one using something like small tubes of bamboo. These bees will utilize almost any kind of tube in which to lay their eggs.
3. Avoid or limit pesticide use. This is the most important one of all.
For those of us who like to eat, there are no more important critters than these. Let us all acknowledge that importance by supporting our local pollinators in every way that we can."
from Have you hugged your pollinator today? - Houston Chronicle 6 27 10
Also see:
Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe from the London Guardian, May 2, 2010
Above: "Butterfly Plant" -- attracts butterflies. They grow well in Houston. Ours froze during the bad freeze this winter and came back quickly.
4 comments:
As much as I love bees, I don't see how this relates to the DREAM Act.
You can also have a bee hive or two in your backyard. I have two in Denver, CO. The city recently passed a law approving back-yard hives, although people had hives in their houses before then.
paz,
Rene
This blog is not just about the DREAM Act. It is also about politics (including environmental issues, which as you know are very political), public health and education. The bee situation is an environmental issue that could affect everybody's well-being - even our existence on this planet. Be sure to read the second article from the London Guardian.
Thanks for reading this blog.
After two years of owning my own home, I have gotten into gardening and land scaping with failure after failure even with pesticides.
I'm now learning about the good bugs that I killed and am now trying to plant those plants that bring them in. I thought that these helpful guys were just always there and there not. Bees are very important in bad bug control too, and are definately less aggressive if you give them flowers to pollinate and places to call home. I live in South Central Texas and bees are out year around, if the sun is shining and it's warm enough. So I am striving for year round flowering and hopefully year round bug control without pesticides. These guys are more important than most people know.
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