July 8, 2018
I like to walk around each day to look at the flower beds I've planted, always in the morning. It's been an unusual growing year; our weather has been cool and overcast, the lack of sun slowing plant growth considerably. One plant that has kept me guessing since I planted it two years ago is a Blue Sea Holly, which I have in a flower bed facing south. It took forever, but this year it produced flowers - unusual, spiky-looking things that are still, gradually turning a dusty-looking gray-blue. One of the most notable features of the plant has been its ability to attract bees. For the past few weeks I've seen swarms of them hovering around the 3 foot tall mass of clover-like flowers each day.
This makes me happy, because - like all of you, I suspect - I'm aware of the trouble bees are in. In past years, I've seen wooden boxes full of the creatures delivered to various farmers' fields in the area. This year, there were no deliveries; the fields have been turned into building sites, as our little town grows. Nevertheless, bees have paid visits to the holly, comfrey, foxglove, and other plants in my yard. Good, I thought, hoping their presence meant the absence of neonicotinoids. And it might very well mean that. But: today, when I walked around, I noticed the bees working the Blue Sea Holly. As I got closer, I couldn't help but notice a lack of buzzing going on. And a distinct lack of movement on the part of the usually busy bees.
Standing over the uniquely gray-blue plant, I saw that, rather than hovering over the flowers, the bees were lying on top of them. Drawing close, they looked as if at any second they would resume their minute inspection of each pollen-producing ornament. But they didn't. I poked one of them. Nothing. They were all dead. I'm not making this up. I've never seen anything like this happen before. Are local farmers spraying a pesticide that took a few minutes to kill the bees once they'd come into contact with it? Have the flowers themselves begun producing a substance that harms the bees? I can't imagine that's the problem; surely there would be a warning on the tuber's packaging. What happened? Will I find more dead bees in the days ahead?
I'll let you know.
July 16, 2018
The next morning I took a look at the holly plant. About half the bees lying inert the day before had gone. The other half still appeared to be dead, although, after a moment, one moved slightly. Could they have been drunk? I wondered. Certainly the plant seems enormously attractive to bees; a few days after the "die off," three different kinds of bees were collecting pollen at the same time from the one plant! It seems as popular as ever, with a constant stream of customers coming and going. There has been some study of drunken bees - apparently the presence of ethanol in the bees is significant.
I like to walk around each day to look at the flower beds I've planted, always in the morning. It's been an unusual growing year; our weather has been cool and overcast, the lack of sun slowing plant growth considerably. One plant that has kept me guessing since I planted it two years ago is a Blue Sea Holly, which I have in a flower bed facing south. It took forever, but this year it produced flowers - unusual, spiky-looking things that are still, gradually turning a dusty-looking gray-blue. One of the most notable features of the plant has been its ability to attract bees. For the past few weeks I've seen swarms of them hovering around the 3 foot tall mass of clover-like flowers each day.
This makes me happy, because - like all of you, I suspect - I'm aware of the trouble bees are in. In past years, I've seen wooden boxes full of the creatures delivered to various farmers' fields in the area. This year, there were no deliveries; the fields have been turned into building sites, as our little town grows. Nevertheless, bees have paid visits to the holly, comfrey, foxglove, and other plants in my yard. Good, I thought, hoping their presence meant the absence of neonicotinoids. And it might very well mean that. But: today, when I walked around, I noticed the bees working the Blue Sea Holly. As I got closer, I couldn't help but notice a lack of buzzing going on. And a distinct lack of movement on the part of the usually busy bees.
Standing over the uniquely gray-blue plant, I saw that, rather than hovering over the flowers, the bees were lying on top of them. Drawing close, they looked as if at any second they would resume their minute inspection of each pollen-producing ornament. But they didn't. I poked one of them. Nothing. They were all dead. I'm not making this up. I've never seen anything like this happen before. Are local farmers spraying a pesticide that took a few minutes to kill the bees once they'd come into contact with it? Have the flowers themselves begun producing a substance that harms the bees? I can't imagine that's the problem; surely there would be a warning on the tuber's packaging. What happened? Will I find more dead bees in the days ahead?
I'll let you know.
July 16, 2018
The next morning I took a look at the holly plant. About half the bees lying inert the day before had gone. The other half still appeared to be dead, although, after a moment, one moved slightly. Could they have been drunk? I wondered. Certainly the plant seems enormously attractive to bees; a few days after the "die off," three different kinds of bees were collecting pollen at the same time from the one plant! It seems as popular as ever, with a constant stream of customers coming and going. There has been some study of drunken bees - apparently the presence of ethanol in the bees is significant.
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