Haagen-Dazs Needs Your Help!

Seriously! Haagen-Dazs needs YOUR help with bees. That's right, bees :-)

As some of you may already be aware of, there is a crisis in the bee population. Massive amount of bee hives are being abandoned, and that means fewer bees, which means fewer bees pollinating plants, that means fewer strawberries, almonds, etc, which means more expensive strawberry ice cream. Hah, no you see how important the bee crisis is my friends.

Everyone knows bees are honey makers but the most important job they perform is pollination. One out of every three bites of food we eat and drink is animal pollinated! And, all kinds of wildlife depend on pollinated plants for food. Read that again: "one out of every 3 bites of food we eat & drink is animal pollinated"! Could sound a little gross, but you know what I mean :-)

Here are a few fun and yes, even sexy facts about bees:

1. -After five days, the Queen's the flight outside of the hive takes place. The queen mates with many drone bees from other colonies and then returns to the hive with enough sperm to successfully lay fertile eggs for many months and years ahead. She does not ever need to mate again and yet she can continue to lay up to 2,000 eggs a day! This is her only job in the hive society.

2. If the hive becomes overcrowded, many of the bees take the queen and leave the hive. This is called swarming. The old hive needs a queen so the bees build queen cells and
feed and nurse the baby Queens inside the cells. When they hatch, they fight and the strongest wins and becomes the new hive queen.

3. Bees have been producing honey for at least 150 million years!

4. Honey bees are the only insects that produce food for humans.

5. Honey bees aren’t native to North America. They were brought from Europe by settlers in the 17th century for their honey (the main sweetener) and for their wax (for candles).

6. Here's an important one: Honey bees are responsible for pollinating one-third of all the foods we eat.

7. Honey bees are responsible for the pollination of more than 100 crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, providing 80 percent of the country’s pollination services.

8. An average worker bee will only make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

What can I do? I'm glad you asked.

1.You can plant or buy bee friendly plants: azaleas, begonias, chrysanthemums (had to copy that spelling ;-)), daisies, gardenias, geraniums, heather, marigolds, mint, orchids, pansies, petunias, roses, snapdragons, sunflowers, and tulips, to name a few.

2. Also, use only pollinator-friendly products in our yards. (I'm going to research this more & see what specifics I can find for us).

3. Buy honey and bee products (bees wax candles) from local growers to help bee owners.

The group, at www.pollinator.org, is issuing guides for each of 35 eco-regions of the country that can be used by farmers, public-land managers, corporations and consumers for choosing pollinator-friendly plants and practices.

I love honey! I like strawberry ice cream! I don't necessarily love bees, but I sure love what they produce and help produce, so spread the honey and the word: Help Save The Bees!