The Sting of Hunger Is Worse
I once was at a kid’s party in the Metroparks with all the crap you usually find at a kid party. Cake, juice, ice cream, cookies; basically, sugar delivery systems. And of course, the bees arrived. One mom took a couple of cups of juice, filled them and put them aside. Very quickly, bee after bee fell in and struggled until it drowned. Little wings stopped fluttering, and the bee capsized; soon, the cup’s surface was covered in death.
I asked of course why do something so cruel. After all, isn’t this their habitat? Doesn’t their instinct draw them to this smorgasbord of sustenance? They have to collect to survive, don't they. It isn’t like they are crashing this party. We are bringing irresistible things into their home and every ounce of their being compels them to toward it. Her response was that she was only interested in protecting her child from being stung. Well isn’t that special ( I say it with the Church Lady’s voice).
I always tell my kids, “You have nothing to fear. The worst thing that can happen to you is you feel a pinch. You can kill them.” The same goes for any insect that might cross our paths. And they are not interested in causing us harm. They are just trying to do their thing. And that thing is pollinating our flowers and food. Without them-- we die.
The most alarming thing I read recently was about the pesticides. You have heard it all before, but I bet you haven’t heard THIS one. Bees prefer the plants that have them. Prefer. Because, it is the equivalent of smoking cigarettes. Yup! They don’t want to eat as much and they don't fly as well. That reminds of when I used to smoke cigarettes and yeah, I would smoke so I wouldn’t eat and I smoked and wasn’t able to run as fast because I ran out of breath. And yet, I kept going back to that damn cigarette.
Neonicotinoid is the name of this pesticide. Do you see the word nicotine in there? You got it.
April Mission Ten- Now what? Well first of all stop killing our pollinators when they pop up around your life. And stop being afraid. You look ridiculous. Next, do not use pesticides like ever. Get some ladybugs or mantises for your garden. Yes you can order them and think about how fun it would be to have those guys around! Plant trees, shrubs, flowers, veggies, herbs. And take action and don’t let big pharma keep peddling their cigs on the poor bees. Here is a link to show you how.
http://www.queenofthesun.com/get-involved/10-things-you-can-do-to-help-bees/