To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? Hamlet, William Shakespear
I have been worried about honey bees for years. Yeah, I read the popular press and sometimes I even believe what I read. So I’ve listened to the preaching about the decreasing honey bee population and I’ve done my part - despite my deathly allergy to bee stings. Five years ago I pulled out my veggies and planted a bee garden, figuring shit, if I need veggies I can hie myself to ye olde farmer’s market and support the organic farming community.
My bees are thriving. The garden is filled all spring, summer and fall with buzzing honeybees, bumbling bumble bees, stingless whatever bees, tiny itty-bitty bee-type thingys, and they all seem happy. Hell, they let me walk through their swarms with nary a glance in my direction. They even let me spray them with the hose when I water their flowers. Seems as if they like it.
So how come it is, that if the situation is so damn dire, when I found a tree in a local wilderness park that had been split in half and knocked down by a recent windstorm, exposing an ancient and very productive hive of wild honeybees to the weather, predators, honey-stealers and beer-swilling high school kids, not a single politically correct bee apologist would come rescue them? Huh? I really want to know.
I hiked not a quarter mile away to a community farm to speak to the resident bee-keeper who drives a truck pulling a trailer with a big honkin’ sticker stuck on it that says: SAVE THE BEES! I told him what happened and asked him if he’d be willing to go get the bees or tell me how to get the bees or help me get the bees or find someone who could get the bees. He said, and I quote, “No. It ain’t worth it.” What the fuck!?!
“But you just have to hike over there,” I pointed, “it’s only a couple hundred yards up the trail after you get past the entrance. I can take you there right now and show you.”
“Nope. Not interested.”
“Then why do you have the damn sign on your trailer? Aren’t we supposed to be saving bees?”
He walked away from me.
So…I called the entomology departments of two local universities. Never received a call back. I called every bee-keeper listed in the area, both online and in the phone book. Nuthin’. NOBODY returned my calls. Ten days later, a guy two hundred miles away called and said his voicemail had been malfunctioning and he’d just gotten my message and he wanted to know how the bees were doing because we’d had an awful cold spell. I told him their numbers had been decimated and everyone from squirrels to deer to beer-swilling teenagers had been stealing the honey while the remaining bees vibrated on the only surface of the tree that was exposed to the sun. Poor, poor bees. This guy would have come to get them, but it was too late.
Yeah, I know. Nature is cruel. Got it. Clear on the concept. But c’mon, don’t be driving around pulling a trailer that says - SAVE THE BEES when you are too damn lazy to walk your ass a quarter mile to save them!
Call me politically incorrect, but here’s what I think. Agricultural bees may be at risk for a variety of reasons - pesticides, limited sources of nectar, moving around a whole lot, living in crowded, unnatural conditions, getting handled by guys in bee suits, freeway traffic smashing thousands on windshields because bee keepers tend to set up their hives right next to freeways, but maybe this whole honeybees are endangered thing is a bunch of crap.
That’s not to say I’m going to pull out my bee garden. I love my bees. But I think it’s sheer hypocrisy to scream about the demise of a species and then, when you are given an opportunity to save a portion of that species, blow it off.
As the Talmud says, he who saves a single life, saves the entire world.
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Is that the reason? They could have called me back and told me! I still think they can come get them, keep them safe over the winter and then let them swarm if they want. I even called all the places that said they ‘rescue’ and ‘remove without killing’ wild bee hives. None of them returned my call. I suspect the community farm hives have been infiltrated by those wild bees anyway.
I have to agree…I have a beautiful dwarf apple tree in my back yard, and some wild-growing forsythia, black currant bushes and honeysuckles that are utterly full of bees all spring and into the summer. I refuse to spray the tree because of the bees, and the tiny little ‘honey-bear’ wasps lay eggs in the setting blossoms and the worms eat their way out of the fruit about mid summer.
80% of the crop has worm holes, but the 20% that makes it through without holes makes delicious eating. And pies. And the wormy fruit makes excellent bird feed through the winter. I love to watch the birds swarming around the withered, hanging apples and devour them in twenty minutes or so.
I admire you for caring. And in case you didn’t know…honey farms will only pick up swarms that aren’t in the wild, because of the sudden prevalence of Africanized bee colonies. They have no desire to go rescue a hive in a hollow tree where they are fully established, if those bees might carry an Africanized strain. I learned this from a bee guy who came to our house to rescue us from a swarm that decided it liked my euonymus bush next to my door. Every time we opened the door, at least a dozen got inside. Like you, my grandkids are highly allergic to bee venom.
Thanks, Jane. I still think someone should have saved the bees. If I knew anything about bee-keeping, I would have tried.
I admire you for caring, also. As a gardener, I plant things that bees and butterflies like and try to stay out of their way as best I can. I have a problem with people who think every lawn should be close-trimmed grass. I guess we all see things differently.
We need the bees, but I do think that the persons you approached owed you the explanation of why they didn’t want to help.
This world is going to pot in a handbasket!
Be happy to put you in a bee suit. I love bees, ‘course their sting is totally deadly to me - I’m supposed to keep an epi-pen with me, but you know, as soon as I pick one up from the pharmacy, I lose it. Now, don’t talk to me about yellow jackets - they are just plain ornery!
God, I’m going to be a shit for a second. I hate bees. Loathe them. Will tip toe the opposite direction from their pointy little asses. I would however stand at a distance and cheer the bee savior on. Go Julia! Keep me in the bee suit though.
I agree with Mia, I’m not a bee person, BUT I do admire your dedication to saving them. BTW, I’m allergic too. I think the guy with the Save the Bees sticker is a shithead. He should have helped you. Don’t let this one situation get you down.
Nicole, ICAM!
Do you have a reason to be upset? Yes. I am not a bee lover, but the kids LOVE The Bee Movie and watch them from afar. The guy with the sticker is a hypocrite. Now I have lived with a beekeeper, and her clover honey was the best. We never took more than what was needed and the bees didn’t seem to mind. Any of those idiots could have AT LEAST called you back. Its called common courtesy. Even if they would have done nothing for the bees they could have done that for you. So I will be crass for a moment and say screw the difidgits! (my creative and non cursing way of saying da** f***ing idiots).
You were right to care. It very sad to me that someone with bee handling experience didn’t care enough to help you or even explain to you why he couldn’t bring the bees onto his property. I recently saw a huge swarm of bees huddling in a bevwack at a local mall. I reported the bees to the maintenance office hoping they would call someone to safely move the bees out of the parking lot and NOT spray them with poison. I’ve heard so much lately about the disappearance of domestic honey bees and at the same I’ve seen and heard of traveling swarms of “Homeless” bees showing up in very odd places. I wonder what’s up?
XXOO Kat
Kat - I hope your bees are okay! I may figure out a safe way to take up beekeeping so I can save them all!