Source of Death

The problem of pesticides, especially the deadly neonicotinoids, killing off bees continues to grow.

Gardeners hoping to protect bees by not directly using neonicotinoids can end up unwittingly killing bees simply with their purchase of plants. Many plants are grown using these and other pesticides, which remain in the plant and continue to pose a risk to bees. Popular gardening stores carry the pesticide-laced plants but don't label them as containing the toxins. The following video from Friends of the Earth offers more explanation of the problem:



Neonicotinoids' prevalence stands out in the video. With 51 percent of plants tested containing these pesticides, gardeners who buy from stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe's have a good chance of planting gardens deadly to bees.

Despite the fact that neonicotinoids are in so many plants without warning labels, gardeners can empower themselves in the fight to keep bees alive. By applying pressure to stores and elected officials, we can work for the banning of neonicotinoids, encourage stores not to carry plants treated with them, or, at least, make sure the plants are labeled as containing these particular pesticides.

Plants symbolize life; they shouldn't represent death for bees.

Bee Aware, Bee Connected

The buzz about looking out for bees continues to grow.

Declines in populations of bee species, both domestic honey bees and wild bumblebees, have sparked a need to better understand these insects and what is happening to them. A project called Bumble Bee Watch turns to citizen science to collect data about bumblebee sightings.

Bumble Bee Watch works through a simple process. Individuals take pictures of the bumblebees they see, log in to the project's Web site, post the pictures, identify the species, and get expert verification on the identification. By posting the pictures, people contribute to science and conservation efforts and develop a virtual collection of the bees they've encountered. For more information about the project, click here.

I love that Bumble Bee Watch gives us insight that can help bumblebees survive. However, the project also allows us to connect with bumblebees and better understand their story. That's a key ingredient for a successful relationship.

It's great to gain knowledge of nature, but really getting to know it is even better.

Bee Mine

This Valentine's Day, show someone sweet how much you care, and by "someone," I mean bees.

Pesticides have had a devastating impact on bee populations. In response, Friends of the Earth is asking people to show bees some love on February 14 by taking a special valentine to Home Depot and/or Lowe's stores. The card calls on the companies to stop selling pesticides that kill bees.

To get a card and further instructions from Friends of the Earth, sign up here. Then, on Valentine's Day, make your move.

Love isn't all we need. We need bees too.

Plan Bee

A recent piece of student-led research from the University of Oregon should have people buzzing.

Declines in bee populations have at least brought the details of our relationship with these insects into the spotlight, and as this announcement of the Oregon study shows, much can be done with our new knowledge to improve the human-bee connection. The study looks at the role bumblebees play in pollination. After showing that bumblebees pollinate at a rate three times faster than European honeybees, the study lays out plans farmers can use to attract more bumblebees to their land.

The study is exciting for several reasons. First, it gives us greater insight into our interactions with bees. Second, the practical ideas it produces are beneficial to both agriculture and native species of plants and bees. Finally, it represents what can happen when people collaborate to find solutions to problems.

Fostering ideas is crucial when we are confronted with challenges. In the case of Oregon's bee study, the university empowered its students to find ideas, the students responded with research that yielded results and gave them applied experience, and the local farmers embraced the findings.

That sounds like a plan that would benefit the whole planet.

Bee in the Garden

Gardens are becoming the last-chance places for bees.

Honeybee declines have received most of the attention, but bumblebees are also disappearing. Pesticides and habit destruction, in particular, have had devastating effects on these insects, and we are only just beginning to understand the full extent of the damage.

Gardening provides an opportunity for learning more about and doing something to stop the disappearance of bumblebees. A Web site called Beautiful Wildlife Garden gives tips for how gardeners can do both. These suggestions include avoiding the use of pesticides, tracking and reporting bee sightings, and providing habitat for bees. To learn more, click here.

We've known for a long time that gardens rely on bees, but it's becoming clear that bees are growing evermore dependent on gardens for their survival.

Bee There

Think of a bee nest.

Did you picture a small hole in a piece of wood? I would guess you didn't. Most people would probably think of a honeybee hive or a paper nest made by hornets. However, not all bees choose such showy places to live.

Mason bees like to use the holes left in wood by other insects for their homes. They're kind of the apartment dwellers of the bee world, and they're quiet tenants, preferring to keep to themselves and very rarely stinging.

Their unique choice of living quarters also makes them easy to attract to a yard. People can provide mason bees with homes by drilling holes in a piece of wood and hanging it with a southern exposure. For more details about how to make a mason bee house, check out this article from the National Wildlife Federation.

We most likely have mixed feelings about getting bees as close neighbors, but then again, we usually don't think of bees living the way mason bees do.

Bee Minus

At least 50,000 bumblebees were killed in less than a week in a single Oregon parking lot. They died just because someone wanted to get rid of some aphids.

According to this article from The Xerces Society, which advocates for the conservation of invertebrates, an insecticide was applied to some non-native, flowering trees in a Target parking lot because the aphids were dripping a sticky substance. After the poison was applied (it is illegal to apply it when plants are in bloom), bees, not sticky aphid residue, began falling from the trees. And they just kept falling.

The Xerces Society is providing ways people can help, and it is also joining scientists in calling for bans on the cosmetic use of insecticides.

How ridiculous have we become? We indiscriminately throw around toxins to stop stickiness from trees that we introduce to habits. At every turn of this story (right up until it sped off the cliff), we see examples of humans' blindness to their impact on the environment. Such negligence gives us a failing grade in our responsibilities to the environment and should be treated as a criminal act.

Bittersweet

Most films have to create a buzz to draw an audience, but a recent documentary looks at an issue that people are already buzzing about.

More Than Honey examines the worldwide phenomenon of honeybee die-offs and the major implications they have for humans. To view the trailer and learn more about the film, click here.

The honeybee deaths force us to consider our connection with the environment. Pesticides have been identified as a major factor in the die-offs, and the possible extinction of bees threatens our food sources. In other words, we're deeply entwined at all levels of this issue.

By contributing to the buzz around the bee deaths, More Than Honey helps us explore this vital connection.

The Many Lives of Trees

If you're lucky enough to live on property with trees but unlucky enough to have had one of them die, don't consider its death the end.

TreeHugger provides some suggestions for what to do with a dead tree. I particularly like the idea for turning the tree into a place for bees. Mason bees would probably really love it.

The suggestion about making the tree into a bee habitat brings up another important point about dead trees: They actually play a big role in ecosystems, attracting many species with food and shelter. Woodpeckers have lots of fun with them.

In terms of what trees do for an ecosystem, their life has the potential to extend well beyond their time for living. If you happen to end up with a dead tree on your hands or already have one, consider some of the ways you might give it an afterlife.