Bee of the Week

I love bees.

A few summers ago, one morning I counted five different types of bees in the front flower garden in amongst the blooms.

Last year, the city sprayed for bugs.

This year, I saw one bee in the front garden. That's not to say there hasn't been more while I was not  looking, but I don't see many when I do look. There have been more in the back vegetable garden, though, and there's not a time during the day that I can look in a squash blossom and not see some kind of bee.

Bop the bee

I remember visiting a 'Bug Museum' out in Colorado many years ago. In it were the tarantulas, the giant beetles, and the hissing cockroaches (ick). Also at this museum was a plexiglass-walled bee hive, which was INSIDE the museum building. The queen was marked, the honey was dripping, the workers flying in and out. If you touched the surface of the plexiglass, you could feel the hum of the hive. I was enthralled.

Just recently I read that there are NO wild honey bees left in N. America, that only kept honeybees exist. I do not know if that is true, I must do more research. I sense in my gut that the pesticide use in the air and genetically inserted into plants cannot be good for the creatures. Add to that the mite problem, the African bee problem...I think we need to be more responsible stewards to help mitigate the colony collapses happening.

So to indulge my love for bees, I am adding a "Bee of the Week" series. I hope you enjoy it.