It's not called The Garden Buzz for nothing! The Garden Buzz is always on alert for big and breaking news about bees; literally the buzz about bees. You know those adorable little guys that pollinate every third bite of food that goes into your mouth!
That's right. Without bees, no strawberry shortcake. Without bees, no coconut cream pie. Without bees, no blueberry cobbler. You get my drift.
Bees are busy despite facing threats from parasitic diseases, habitat loss and climate disturbance, but so are humans, making concerted efforts to help them out. Please make yourself aware of these worthy endeavors.
Check out Pollinator LIVE, a new distance learning adventure brought to you by the USDA Forest Service and their partners. A great tool for classrooms, and gardeners featuring programs about honeybees, native bees and gardening streaming live on selected dates and later archived for your viewing pleasure.
The Great Sunflower Project continues. Citizen scientists and curious gardeners (aren't we all) are encouraged to join. Their website is a wealth of bee knowledge and inspiration. They send the sunflower seeds, you grow them, then count and report the number of bees that pollinate the big beautiful flowers. I'll be giving away some of their 2011 calendars just before the holidays ( I was late last year), keep a lookout!
Finally, read this article about University of Minnesota professor Marla Spivak, who just won the MacArthur "Genius Grant" for her ground-breaking approach to bee breeding hoping to fight off parasitic mites that threaten this hugely important part of our existence.
Know of a noteworthy or deserving bee story or project? I'd love to hear from you, or just tell me about the bees in your garden, what have you noticed lately? BBBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
