May 2009 027 -2

A couple of weeks ago I was doing my favorite exercise: surfing, the web that is.  I came across a blog, which I can’t for the life of me remember which one it was, where there was a post about the decline in the bumble bee population.  Then last week I was curled up salivating over reading Sunset Magazine and there it was again.  A column on the left side of the page, where advertisements usually are displayed, the same information about the detrimental consequences that our farmers may be faced with the decline of the bumble bees.  You can read all about it on Help The Honey Bees. There is a lot info on this site so click away. It is a bit slow but well worth the time.

A quick Google search lead me to many different sites and I found out that this by any means is not a new issue. In fact it has been a concern since about three years ago.  I find this very sad that many of the members of the animal kingdom nowadays are becoming distinct and the blame is to be put on no other than us humans.  This is yet another reason to look around us and how by our actions we contribute to the destruction of our planet.

Maybe we all need an extraterrestrial to come down to earth and give us a nudge just like it happens in the movie “The Day Each Stood Still.”

I think bees are cute.  They used to scare the heck out of me when I was little because of people’s reaction when they got stung by one. As I child I remember being told to sing a song that rhymed with the word vinegar in Farsi, serkeh, in order to keep them at a safe distance from you.  I am not really sure if this is really true or just myth. But one thing is sure, I have made it three and half decades without…oh no I am not going to to say it because I might step into the garden and you know what? It might happen…. because, I am proud to say that we have plenty of bees flying around in our garden right now since our three Bottle Brush trees are in full bloom as seen in the picture.  All you hear is bzzz…bzzz, bzzz.

I must admit that after reading various articles, the buzzing is now music to my ears! I can’t say I have always felt this way! I remember once as a child going to the South of Iran on a small vacation near a river. I have no idea where exactly, but you know when one scene of your life gets stuck in your head? I remember  sitting outside chatting in the evening when the temperatures were cooler with various family members on my father’s side of the family.  Many of the cousins were there with us along with some family friends who had brought their kids.  Somehow that evening a few people were stung by the bees.  Here is the funny thing, I remember one of my cousins rolling up her pants and sitting and waiting to be stung by the bees because she had heard that it was good for rheumatism.

So here I am surrounded by people who yell and scream when bees come around. Then every so often they get stung and what follows is  crying and hollering from pain. All the while this other  person is sitting there waiting. Ironically, her wishes didn’t come true that night which resulted in the usual nagging that most Persians are so good about! So needless to say that the presence of bees has always created such a fuss around me.  Maybe I would have reacted the same way had I been….you know…had an encounter as such. Or had I stepped on dead ones while walking on the beach like my sister has, twice! Don’t tell her I told you this, but she hates bees, they even get to her while dead! 🙂

According to the Help The Honey Bees website you can help stop the decline in their population.  It is simple, all you have to do is plant seed that will grow into plants that will attract the bees.  You can find more info by following the link above. There might even be an added bonus for those of you ice cream lovers!!! 🙂

Or you can read this informative article from Concord Monitor.

Do you have a garden? Have you ever thought of starting your own garden?