The Grass Doctor - Bees, do you really care about them?

Bees, do you really care about them?

I have been hearing a lot about the problems with the bees and the relation to the cost of the rising prices of food. According to the news, Bees are normally rented out to farmers to pollenate their farms to produce fruit but due to chemicals that people are putting on their lawns seem to be killing all of the bees and therefore is a problem for the farmers and will make the cost of food rise? I realise that with the droughts, then floods it has been hard on farmers already but now the bees? My question to all of you is, if you could make a difference but not putting such harsh chemicals on your lawns to save the bee population would you do it? What happens if your lawn just dies from too many bugs? Is there anything else we can use on our lawns that would not be as harmful? I am not trying to be a tree hugger, but when is enough, enough for you? Does it bother you or not? I am not sure why this is bothing me so much? But it is! Is my liberal tree hugging side coming out?

Public Comments

damn those bees. they sting me for nothing and it hurt like hell.
bees have their place. i say, if you got a problem with them, take it up with the queen.
bees help carry pollen to make honey but they can be a pain
Very interesting - I did not know this about the bees. Yes, it bothers me and I am not a tree hugger.
People will understand how important bees are when they don't have food to eat.
Personally, I don't think it's any of my bees-wax.
Do I ever care about bees? Wow! I sure do, Honey.
I totally agree. In addition, honey becomes more scarce! I don't know if i can live without it.
You are smart to be concerned. Bee Colony Collapse has been occurring at a very fast rate. Bees pollinate our fruts, veggies and flowers. Without them........not so good. In answer to your question, I think our food supply is more important then our lawns.
i care about the bees!
I hate bees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...sorry i didnt feel like reading your novel you wrote!
Yes that's bothersome..you need some honey in your life every once in awhile! I don't put any chemicals on my lawn and I never have!
Whether you know it or not, the bees plain a very important part in agriculture, and in case you are not aware of it, plants need the bees for pollination.
commercial bee keepers are to blame for the decrease in bee populations there hives are undersized and they are fed sugar water which is inferior to a natural diet lawn chemicals harm all insects both beneficial and pest
I don't use chemicals on my lawn and I really try not to use them in my house there is usually a natural way to do most things without using harsh chemicals. Like I save ashes from my would stove to put on the leaves of my veggie plant to keep of insects in the summer.
Very much so!!! Bees pollinate EVERYTHING. DO YOU LIKE TO EAT?
Ecology problems aside, I happen to enjoy honey. And bees make that too. Now, I've never used harsh chemicals in my yard and garden, and they have never suffered for the lack. Another thing to keep in mind is that the chemicals can get into *YOU* too. For those that are used to depending on such aids, things might get a bit rocky while the natural balance is reasserting itself. But the planet survived quite nicely before weed killers, insecticides, and chemical fertilizers were invented. And it can do so again.
when I had my bee 's I had more fruit and nuts and vegables than now . since I 've lost my bee's the produce and nut's production is way below normal . yes!!! we had better care about the honey bee's even the killer bee's has a role in our food production. with out the bee's there will be no wild food for the wild animals and most of all no food for the human's . the more we learn about and help the honey bee's, the better we can live also
Honey bees are the only bees that sting and die. That is one reason honey bees are unlikely to sting unless the hive is threatened. Bumble bees do not die when they sting so it's possible to step on one since they nest in the ground. Yellow jackets and bald face wasps sting more than once and they send out pheromones to alert others. Bees are blamed for most stings that are caused by wasps and hornets. Honey bees are vegetarians they eat pollen and in the process they pollenate flowers that eventually become fruit, nuts and food for other animals such as hay for cows, goats, sheep and hogs.. Wasps and hornets are carnivorous they visit plants to find insects to eat.
One of my biology professors gave the analogy of a little elf sitting on the wing of a plane at 10000 feet over the ocean. He starts pulling out bolts one by one. At first you may shake your head and say this plane was well built, and then you may start to get nervous but look the other way as he continues pulling out bolts. But finally there will be just one bolt, maybe the next?, that will bring the whole plane down. When will you speak up and do something to get that elf off the wing of the plane. The same with our environment. One tree species goes extinct in South America, some unseen animal goes extinct, etc and it all doesn't affect us much but what will be the one living thing to go extinct that finally destroys the earth as we know it. Our resources are getting expensive and people are looking the other way.... So to sum up, yes I worry about the bees.
worker bees can leave even drones can fly away the queen is their slave --from "Fight Club" We better start worrying about things like what's happening to the bees. In the middle ages, they thought cats were evil and killed them or drove them away, so the rats flourished. The lice on the rats bit people, and gave them the plague. We're a part of nature, not outside of it. A blow to nature harms us all.
For those of you who gave stupid and nonsense answers, remember this question. Prominent scientists have estimated 4 years left for the worlds' population before it starves to death. Without honey bees there will be NO FOOD. In my own little backyard garden I have had to manually pollinate ,ost of my vegetables and some fruits. No fun. I, too, am not a tree hugger. I'm just someone who enjoys eating.
I already don't use chemicals on my lawn or any other part of my farm. I used to raise bees but after 5 years of failure and a lot of money (colonies are not cheap) I gave it up. But because I have a chemical free and insect friendly farm I get both non-native honey bees and lots of native bees visiting my fruits.
l don`t like them period
Good that it is bothering you, keep letting do that and help the earth. We tend to forget that every living thing depends on another living thing to survive. We are killing the earth and we are the only ones that can stop it. If all the bees die so will we.