I have been afraid of bees ever since I was a little kid and a giant bumblebee got trapped in my shirt. I ran home screaming while it buzzed around inside my clothes, banging me, as desperate as I was for freedom. I was totally hysterical by the time I got home and my mom ripped my shirt off to discover a giant dead bumblebee on the ground. I'm pretty sure I fainted. I can't remember if I got stung or not. Since it was dead I'm thinking probably yes. Or maybe my screams killed it. Poor bee.
Flash forward a thousand years later and I'm still afraid of bees. My friend Cathy and I were out in her yard and she was telling me about the bee hive she and her husband were installing. This, for me, was pure insanity. But since Cathy is not normally insane I listened to her talk about how bees were declining in population, how this was bad because we really do need them to pollinate plants for us. The fact that she wasn't afraid of them totally upped her coolness factor for me. But as much as I would like to be like Cathy, I'm not going to bee like Cathy. No backyard beehives for me.
This morning on KQED I heard a story about the Urban Bee Project. Basically the net of the story was this: we need more bees. The overall bee population has declined 30% in 20 years. We lack bees the most in urban areas because they lack habitat and food and, well face it, most neighbors don't like it when you install a beehive in your backyard.
Luckily we don't have to. There is another kind of bee, a wild bee that doesn't live in large colonies, but lives alone or in small groups in the cracks and crevices of the city. If we had more of them, it's likely they would pick up the slack. How do we get more of them? Easy, just plant more of stuff they like.
It's going to be a beautiful weekend for those of us who live in the Bay Area and it's a good bet you will be outside (those of you with snow will have to wait a bit). If you feel like planting something, why not pick from this bee-friendly plant list? That way you'll have a great garden that also supports the much-needed bee population.
The Urban Bee Project web site is very informative and explains the differences between bees and wasps, why bees are needed and how to build a bee-friendly garden.
And if bees really scare you, or you happen to bee allergic (sorry, couldn't resist) then perhaps you could build a butterfly garden instead.
