By CAROLYN VAN VLECK
BRANDON—Join bee lovers everywhere! If you don’t mow your lawn during the month of May, this will help feed the declining bee population get an early start on pollinating our world.
Why are bees important? Well, honey, of course! But bees pollinate crops all over the world. Without them, our food crops will diminish drastically. They pollinate your garden’s flowers, your trees’ flowering buds, and your garden veggies. When your garden sprouts with delicate wildflowers, the bees go directly for them when they come out of hibernation.
Pesticides and herbicides are deadly to all types of bees and are the main cause of the bees now being endangered. Get rid of your Round Up, no matter how quick and convenient it may be. Consider using all-natural alternatives to get rid of veggie and flower bugs; there are many alternatives commercially available now, or you can go on-line and ferret out all-natural home mixes.
Plant and grow bee gardens: gardens that will attract bees for pollinating and for their survival. Google for plant suggestions. (The grass also stands a much better chance of surviving through droughts if only chopped off at 1/3 of its height and when mown less often. Apparently, mowing at night is much better for the lawn’s roots, as well.)
Please help keep our bees and butterflies and birds alive. Our lives will be changing a lot with climate change, so let’s help our fellow creatures to exist beside us for as long as possible. We don’t want to have a Silent Spring…
