If you’ve ever been stung by a bee before you know how painful and unpleasant this can be. If you happen to be allergic to them this pain escalates and without the proper medicine readily available to you, could even cause death. But did you know without these little pests, our quality of life would be drastically reduced?
As unpleasant as it can be with them around, we actually need bees to survive. Bees are an integral part of our ecosystems. Their pollination helps the growth of some of our favorite fruits and vegetables such as avocados, squash and watermelons, not to mention some nuts as well.
While some have claimed the human race could not go on if bees went extinct, the truth is we could survive on the fruits and vegetables that do not need pollination. However, while losing bees might not be as dire as some have made it, we do know that a lot of our nutritious and delicious vegetation that needs that pollination would cease to exist. We would actually lose a lot of our healthy food sources that provide essential vitamins to our overall health. That, in a nutshell, should be important enough to all of us to save our bees.
So, what can we do? Most people don’t want a swarm of bees ruining their outdoor fun or family gatherings. But there are ways to protect the bees while not taking away from your summer pleasures.
You can start by planting a bee garden in an area of your yard where you might not spend a lot of time. This will attract bees to just that area and provide the much-needed nectar for them. Some flowers that are most beneficial to bees are zinnias, lavender and poppies to name a few.
Another thing to consider is leaving those dandelions alone when they first come up. Some might think of dandelions as just an unsightly weed, but in reality, they are often one of the first food sources for bees in the spring and can be a huge benefit to their survival. So instead of mowing them down right away, give the bees a chance to get some nutrition from them first.
No one likes weeds in their flower and vegetable gardens, and it has become a common practice to use pesticides and herbicides to avoid them at all costs. But the use of these chemicals is extremely dangerous to our bees and wreaks havoc on their sensitive little bodies. Reducing your use of these chemicals or omitting them completely would help ensure the pollen our bees are getting would not be harmful to them in any way.
It might not be the most convenient for us to protect these little guys, but the alternative is living without some of our most favorite foods. Living with a few weeds here and there will hurt no one in the long run, but losing some of our most nutritious foods for good will surely hurt us all.
