Hive Mind.ed

The passions that bind this blog together: gardening, cooking, local farmers and food shelves all rely on one thing to exist:

Pollinators!

We need those busy bees, butterflies, wasps, ants, moths etc..

Now they need us.

**GIVEAWAY**
…has ended, thanks for all who participated 🙂

WIN 4 Passes to the Polli*Nation Festival Sept 10
Live Music* Food Trucks* Craft Beers*Bee Science*Art
Contest Ends Tuesday Sept 5 at 7pm
Like us on Facebook to enter: www.facebook.com/forksinthedirt/

Unless you’ve been hiding under a garden paver, you know that bees are in trouble. Honeybees in particular have received lots of coverage in the news- topics like Colony Collapse Disorder, Varroa Mites destroying hives, and pesticide kills after a windy day. Honey Bees get most of the news coverage because they are the easiest of the pollinators to observe, being raised in a controlled area rather than being so spread out like the other wild and native pollinators. But there are signs that ALL the pollinators are in trouble.

Luckily, there are many dedicated people already working hard to help our bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. From you and your neighbor planting pollinator-friendly flowers, to cities adopting Pollinator Friendly Resolutions, to farmers (including bee farmers) choosing to use organic practices over spraying pesticides, and legislators working to get state dollars to research pollinators and planting more pollinator habitat.

Yet we’re still losing bees…

My love of gardening has had me bumping into all kinds of pollinators since forever. As a child I was fearful of that buzz, but now I plan my planting precisely to welcome their buzzing into my gardens. Without bees, I’d have to hand pollinate pretty much everything I grow in my vegetable and flower gardens. I’m not sure I’d be able to hit all the blueberries on the bush…

On a larger scale, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, “90% of the world’s food supply comes from about 100 crop species, and 71 of those crops (especially fruits and vegetables) rely on bees for pollination.”

Let that sink in for a minute. In the US alone, bee activities across orchards, pumpkin patches and alfalfa farms, not to mention many other kinds of farms, generate $15 to $19 billion (depending on sources) every year. Looking at dollar amounts is one thing, but imagine not having the variety of foods we enjoy now, like strawberries, almonds, cucumbers and pumpkins. So yup, we’d loose a lot more than honey.

If you really want to freak out your taste buds, here’s the Wikipedia list of foods pollinated by bees. Or just do a google search for ‘world without bees’ videos…

Vote with Your Voice

“Diversity is our strength, which by the way, applies to more than just bees and their food sources,” stated Representative Rick Hansen, from District 52A. He’s one of the good guys, fighting for protection of our pollinators. He spoke at a recent Honey Bee Club of Stillwater meeting I attended and is proud of Minnesota being ahead of the curve on legislation to help pollinators. Rep. Hansen’s a great source of honest info, follow his Facebook Page, Twitter account or get on the list for his email updates.

Our very own U of MN’s Bee Lab, being well known around the globe for advancing the understanding of bee science helps our local pollinators’ more than we can imagine. Dr. Marla Spivik heads this growing group of bee lovers with passion and it shows. I feel much better about my weedy lawn, now that I can call it a Flowering Bee Lawn, thanks MN Bee Lab!

Also, a huge shout out to the MN Honey Producers Assoc. – did you know MN State Fair boasts the largest pollinator & Honey display of any state fair in the country, not to mention the Honey Ice Cream!

From the best way to test for mites, to quick response testing of bee kills, these scientists are on the front lines of ‘save the pollinators’ campaign. But trying to stay and reverse the average 30-40% loss of bees annually is a tall order. One that needs our group efforts!

Grass (& Flower) Roots

Because state and federal legislation reducing or eliminating harmful pesticide use have been halted by lobbyist efforts (from Monsanto to the different state “Growers Associations”), city level resolutions have been huge in getting pesticides off city owned lands- and raising awareness of the pollinator plight. That’s where groups like the Pollinator Friendly Alliance come in.

Changing the system that allows the harmful pesticides into our communities needs the whole hive. Many of our Minnesota communities have taken the “Pollinator Protection Resolution”. Check HERE  to see if your city is on the list. If it’s not and you want to help your city become more pollinator friendly, check out the Pollinator Friendly Alliance online to get linked to ways to start the process. There are some powerful things happening in city legislation! If you have questions or are ready to help, email Laurie Schneider, Co-Executive Director at Pollinator Friendly Allinace.

Just keep Buzzing

With articles like “Popular Pesticides Keep Bumblebees From Laying Eggs” and “The Honeybee problem is only getting worse” coming out every week we can almost get desensitized to the pollinator troubles.

Almost.

Although with the U.S. leading the numbers in bee die off (yes I see a direct relation to our high pesticide use and high numbers of ‘pests’ dying) our U.S. farmers will be the first to feel the pinch. Followed by U.S. eaters.  This is another reason I really like knowing how to grow some of my own food.

Remind Me…

“Bee researchers first reported massive die-offs back in the 1990’s. But the plight of the honeybee didn’t truly buzz into the national consciousness until the spring of 2013, when data revealed the average beekeeper had lost 45% of her colonies the previous winter. A mysterious phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD) further stoked the fires of public interest”. From a 2015 Time Magazine article.

Between 2008 and 2013, wild bee diversity in the US dropped by 23%, and a previously common bumblebee species was recently listed as endangered.

Varroa mites, one of the most well-known parasites definitely share in the blame. Neonicotinoids, a type of pesticide is also to blame. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), when bees die just outside the hive, for reasons unclear, is also adding to the decline in numbers, with losses of up to 43% of bees kept in hives around our country. More info on CCD HERE.

Feeding Healthy Bees

Just like us, bees need to ‘eat the rainbow’ in pollen to be healthy and strong enough to fight off minor infections. Monoculture farming, with less and less land planted in anything other than Corn, Wheat or Soybean is also hurting the pollinators. There are so many ways farmers can be the heros in this situation, and some of them are rising to the occasion. The Big River Farm, part of the Minnesota Food Association, works with the Stillwater Bee Club whose hives are set up on their farm. They are an organic teaching farm mindful of the big picture, and true friends of the bees. Many of the small farms I’ve visited have a hive or three of their own, like this one on Turnip Rock Farm.

How you can BEE the Change you want to see

#1 Stop using pesticides!

Especially systemic insecticides including neonicotinoids and fipronil (these ingredients must be listed). Remember *There are organic pest control options*, they’re not the ‘point and shoot’ variety; most of these techniques work with the plants, against specific pests, for a shorter time. Rodale’s Organic Gardening lists them by Types of Products HERE.

#2 Plant more pollinator friendly plants!

Think season extenders like early blooming (dandelions and creeping Charlie are good early season flowers) and long lasting bloomers like Hyssop (agastahce), and fall flowering Asters etc. Bonus: They’re Beautiful!! The U of MN’s Bee Lab’s list of beneficial plants for bees is specifically for MN, letting you know if the plant is native to our area.

You have so much power in how you spend your dollars! There are many plant suppliers that have taken major measures to grow their plants without any Neonicotinoids. Choose to buy from THESE SUPPLIERS . Or ask how they grow their plants. Remember, just because the species attracts pollinators, it can still come from a nursery that used pesticides and end up hurting the pollinators they were meant to help!

Even the Minneosta Zoo has gotten on board with their “Plant for Pollinators”  initiative, tied to breeding the endangered Prairie Butterfly.

#3 Buy Local Food

Buy direct from farmers using sustainable farming techniques. For the bees, organic or near organic practices, diverse crops, reduced pesticide applications are all important. Get to know a farmer or three, it is so worth your time, and it tastes good too. *See ALL my other blog posts for more information on this 😉

#4 Buy Local Honey

Local Bee keepers, who run Apiaries are on the front lines, and most don’t make much money from keeping bees and selling honey. What they do make is more pollinators, even though lately, beekeepers have had to regularly buy more bees to replace those that have died because of Colony COllapse Disorder (CCD), varroa mite infestation and pesticide kills.

Also, please buy REAL Honey. Basically this means buy honey direct from local bee keepers. They can tell you what kind of nectar the honey was made from, and after a few samples (oh twist my arm) of different honeys from different parts of the state, you’ll be able to taste the difference too! MN Grown has a mapped listing HERE.

If you’re looking for the Ultimate Hipster version of Honey production, look no further than the Beez Kneez, who harvest and deliver with pedal power.

There is a debate as to exactly what raw honey means, but if you buy your honey from the keeper, you can ask if they’ve pasteurized it or not. High heat kills off much of the good stuff in honey. And many additives have been found in honey that sits on the big box store shelves. You can test to see if your honey is ‘real’ in a few different ways. I tried the water test, luckily my honey from the local honey bee experts at Honey Pine Apiary  withstood the test!

#5 Support Habitat restoration projects!

As Representative Hansen explains, “there are four main areas of pollinator issues: Habitat, Nutrition, Parasites and Pesticides.” It seems like we can all agree on the first three, but changing legislation on the 4^th has trouble sticking around.

Minnesota is an agricultural state and our farm unions have deep roots. It seems that the lobbyists (not necessarily the farmers themselves) for these special interest groups hold a lot of sway in our state government and have pitted the ‘remove harmful pesticides’ bills against ‘farming families’; which is not only untrue, but also undermines the very farming communities they say they are working for. If we keep killing bees, the farmers will be the first to lose.

#6 Get your own Hive!

Become a beekeeper yourself! Add to pollinator numbers in your area by hosting them yourself. I am so close to doing this, but then again, I’m already in over my head. If you are on the fence about keeping bees, check out Nature’s Nectar, a long time, trusted and  local resource for bee keepers and their bees.

Or maybe you want to leave the bee keeping duties to the professionals, but still increase pollination in your area (a 2 mile radius) by having a hive on your property? The U of MN Bee Lab has you covered, with their “Hive to Bottle” program. You buy the equipment and bees, then they do ALL the work, literally from setting the hive to bottling the extra honey. It’s not cheap, at $875 for one colony, but you’ll probably see a huge increase in your pollination rates, from flowers to veggies, and get quite a bit of honey- and the knowledge that you helped spread the pollinator love. This might be a good option for a neighborhood split?

And, Drum Roll Please…

#7 Go to the Polli*Nation Festival and party with a purpose!

**GIVEAWAY:  WIN 4 Passes to the Polli*Nation Festival**
Contest Ends Tuesday Sept 5 at 7pm
Like us on Facebook to enter: www.facebook.com/forksinthedirt/

The Pollinator Friendly Alliance organizes this outdoor festival to raise awareness of pollinators. What a celebration it is: with Live music, Food Trucks, Art installations, Bee Science, awards given out and of course HONEY!! But seriously, the food trucks: Red Table Meat Company, Bakers Field Organic Flour & Bread, Finnegans Brew, Sociable Cider, Saint Pops, Foxy Falafel, and Kowalskis!!! More Details HERE

So, that was a lot of info. But I’ve still got questions about pollinators and bees. I want to spend some time with a beekeeper at their hives, and I wonder what a honey house is like when their ‘spinning’ the honey? Do you have any specific questions about honey bees, or pollinators in general that I didn’t answer? Let me know so I can ask for the next time around!

For now, take time to stop and thank the pollinators.

I’m ready to DIG IN and plant a few more fall flowering asters, and then enjoy some honey in my tea!

 

Michelle