The Honey Bees Are Back in the Neighborhood

I was overjoyed one sunny day a couple of weeks ago. I saw at least forty busy honey bees buzzing all around the lovely purple crocuses in my front flower bed! I have not seen that many honey bees in my yard in over four years.

By now, many people have heard of the mysterious bee ailment called colony collapse disorder. Honey bees have been disappearing all across the U.S. and the world. Bee keepers have had healthy colonies disappear practically overnight in some cases. Everything from cell phone radiation to pesticide use has been blamed for this mysterious phenomenon. The latest information in the scientific community seems to point to a strain of virus identified in Jerusalem as the Israeli acute paralysis virus, or IAPV.¹ The virus is to honey bees what AIDS is to humans. Honey bees with weak immune systems are most likely to be affected.

The importance of honey bees in our food chain can't be understated. If honey bees become extinct, over 100 food crops in the U. S. alone will be in jeopardy because they depend on honey bee pollination.¹

Honey bees need flower nectar and pollen to survive.²Pollen actually contains protein!² Did you know that dandelions provide one of the best natural pollens for hungry bees?¹ I'll be the first to admit, I do not enjoy seeing dandelions in my yard.

The first year that I owned my house, I used lawn pesticide to get rid of the dandelions. They were rampant and large! I became so worried about the pesticide's effects on all of the animals and birds in my yard, that I opted not to use chemicals on the lawn ever again! Still, I dutifully carried out a yearly campaign to eradicate the dandelions from my yard the old fashioned way-by digging them up! I can say that I almost totally succeeded in the front yard two years in a row. The back yard never succumbed to my persistent efforts to eradicate the dandelions. Thank goodness!

I did not realize I was making my yard less hospitable for honey bees. I figured the flowers in my flower beds would provide them with ample pollen! Well, one of my favorite flower colors is red. Now, I have learned that honey bees can't see red!² It is the one flower color they won't flock to! (Red flowers are typically pollinated by bats, birds, or butterflies.²) Honey bees are most attracted to white flowers!² (Who has not seen a busy bee on a white clover flower?) Besides daisies, I have few white flowers in my garden!

However, now that I know honey bees need dandelions if they are going to recover, I will try to make peace with the dandelions in my back yard. That way, I can feel guilt free about digging them up in the front yard! It will easier to let them live back there, when I start seeing all the honey bees around them! If the forty honey bees around those beautiful purple crocuses were any indication, I'll have lots of honey bees to feed off the dandelions this year!

Sources:

1. Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis van Engelsdorp, "Solving the Mystery of the Vanishing Bees," Scientific American, April, 2009.
2. "Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)", pelotes.jea.com/honeybee.htm.