Is There a Bee in Your Bonnet?
Flying things in this column are usually exclusively about birds. But this week there is a new star on the horizon.... Bees.
Our
garden is aglow with new blossoms on the squash, pumpkin, and
cantaloupe plants as they shift into fall production. And, our half
acre of alfalfa is a foot high and putting out blossoms once more
(third time this year). Watching the interaction of garden and pasture
is an eye-opener about pollination for
me. I love bees (thirty years
ago George Shamo, my neighbor in the Hurricane fields, taught me not to
be afraid of the tiny little pollinating miracle workers)! We need
pollinators to grow flowers, fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
The rosemary bushes in our front yard hardly had a bee on them this spring. Normally the carpet of tiny blue blossoms are humming with bees. The past few years, Bee Colony Collapses have alerted us to a problem that needs to be fixed. I have noticed that when alfalfa blooms in our pasture, hundreds of flying creatures show up; little black wasps, bumble bees, honey bees, ants, grasshoppers, and dragonflies. All wonderful insect life for the health and pollination of the plants in our yard. We try to wait until our alfalfa and grasses go to seed before we allow the horses to harvest our pasture. Once the horses eat the alfalfa in our pasture, and the blossoms are gone.... also gone are the pollinators from our garden. Seeing the third cycle of alfalfa blossoming this summer, we found that the pollinators came back, and our yard was again buzzing and/or hopping with insects. Could it Bee that if everyone planted a hedge row of alfalfa and clover in their backyard that maybe it would help the Bee population? Could Bee! Nature is a wonderful workshop.
This week's picture is from Carol Davis, our Webmaster for the Red Cliffs Audubon, and my favorite photographer. Thank you Carol for your photo. If you have questions about the birds and the bees, or the Audubon, plan to attend our first meeting, Wednesday - September 10, 7:00 p.m. at the Tonaquint Nature Center, 1851 South Dixie Drive. For more information, call Marilyn Davis at 435 673-0996.