November 16, 2022
Honeybees are widely considered to be a keystone species because of the critical role they play in maintaining the health of their ecosystems. Bees are extremely important pollinators; in fact, around 80 percent of the crops grown each year in the United States rely on them.
Major Threats to Honeybee Populations
Honeybee populations are facing significant decline due to climate change, habitat loss, pesticides, and parasites. Climate change disrupts weather patterns and blooming periods, threatening the bees’ access to crucial nutrients. Increases in “monoculture agriculture” reduce the plant diversity that bees need to obtain a full spectrum of nutrients. Deforestation deprives bees of more food sources, as well as places to build their hives. Pesticides like neonicotinoids affect bees’ ability to reproduce and navigate their surroundings. Additionally, parasites like the varroa mite suck nutrients from bees and transmit diseases, which can wipe out entire colonies.
An Easy Way To Help
But how does one help these crucial pollinators? One easy way to support honeybee populations is to grow bee-friendly plants. Milkweed, echinacea (coneflower), poppies, dandelions, foxgloves, zinnias, and chrysanthemums are among the many plants that bees love. Planting a “bee garden” is a great way to provide the bees with much-needed nutrients. Seed bombing, which I published a post about earlier this year, is another great way to spread the seeds of these bee-friendly plants. Two classmates and I recently dropped seed bombs for milkweed and local wildflowers in five different locations in our neighborhood. It was such an easy and cost-effective activity that will, we hope, have a positive impact on the local pollinator community.
Below, I have listed a few more simple ways to help honeybees, all of which were recommended in Sally Coulthard’s book 50 Ways to Help Save the Bees.
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- Buy local and organic produce
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- Plant trees
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- Buy neonicotinoid-free bulbs
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- Leave ivy vines alone–bees love its flowers and berries
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- Use peat-free compost
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- Create a window box for bees
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- Adopt a hive
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- Mow less often
“We would go hungry without our busy honeybees.” Virginia Farm Bureau, www.vafb.com/membershipwork/news-resources/honeybees.
Coulthard, Sally. 50 Ways to Help Save the Bees. New York City, Countryman Press, 2019.
