Our Farm LOVES It's Bees...

As another season approaches, our thoughts again turn to our lovely bee's...oh how we do LOVE our bee's!! Soon, the days will be cooler and bee sightings on the farm will start to diminish as our tiny friends prepare to winter over in the comfort of their honey filled hives.

Over the past few years, there have been a large number of articles written regarding the importance of honey bee's. There have been even more articles written about the disappearance of the honey bee. It is so very sad!

I recently read that one third (1/3) of the food we eat depends on the pollination work of bee's. I even found a list of 10 foods that wouldn't exist if bee's completely died off. That list included:

1. Apples,
2. Almonds,
3. Watermelon,
4. Pumpkins,
5. Squash,
6. Cucumbers,
7. Avocados,
8. Mangoes,
9. Blueberry's and
10. Raspberry's.

Shocking, I know!!

So, as you are reading this information, you're thinking "I love bee's too but I just can't have a hive in my life right now". Well, not to worry...there are many things you can do to help out bee's. For example, you could spend a little time this winter researching plants that grow well in your area that bee's love. Then add a few of those plants to your garden next spring.

There are also a few simple land spacing and garden practices that you can implement to help bee's thrive in you area such as:

1. Don't use pesticides,
2. Provide a variety of food for bee's,
3. Provide a year-round, clean source of water, and
4. Provide shelter.

All of this might seem somewhat daunting at first but I promise it is very east to achieve...LONG LIVE THE BEE!!

(More information can be found at www.honeybeehaven.org)