Since bees are responsible for one third of the food on everyone’s plate, we would have a hard time surviving without them. Santa Barbara is a people paradise but is also a bee paradise and the bees are doing well locally. In 2008 the highly publicized “Colony Collapse Disorder”revealed the demise of bees and public awareness of the plight of bees was greatly increased. More people are keeping bee boxes in their yards as a personal way to help the environment.
I hope you would consider it a valuable contribution to our food supply if your neighbors decided to put a bee box in their back yard. Since bees pollinate up to a one-mile radius, that would include any flowers, trees, or vegetables in your yard, too. Although you may think that bees are a nuisance and worry about getting stung, they are looking for flowers, not you.The best way to avoid getting stung is to look down and back away. Still, you don’t want to disturb them. After all, they are protecting and defending their home – the hive.
Honey has been used for millennia for its antibacterial activity. It works better than Neosporin on cuts. Two tablespoons of raw honey taken at night, no more than 15 minutes before you fall asleep, will regulate your sleep, and increase your dreams. Because of the way your liver processes raw honey, you will sleep more soundly, longer and awaken more refreshed. Infants under 12 months should never be given honey since their digestive system isn’t fully developed. For the greatest health benefits, consider buying raw honey from the Farmers’ Market. Avoid putting it into hot beverages if you want the health benefits.
Interesting fact: The US Military has trained bees to locate dynamite (TNT) in left over landmines. This is a worldwide problem in areas of armed conflict.
As a Realtor, I occasionally come across wild hives that need to be moved from trees or structures when a property is put up for sale. The Santa Barbara Beekeeper’s Association offers a service (free or by donation) to remove unwanted hives. They are also educating pest control companies that the hives are too valuable to kill. You can reach the SBBA through Paul Cronshaw or Curtis Skene at Bees@SBBA.org
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Bees organize themselves into groups of about 60,000 individuals that work for the betterment of the hive. Bees are light sensitive and are well adapted to the environment. They have been present on the planet for more than 14 million years. They can carry nearly twice their body weight. They eat pollen and combine it with plant nectar to produce honey. A bee makes about 10 to 15 trips per day back and forth between the flowers and the hive, yet a single bee only produces about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its 4 to 6 week lifespan. It takes one hive to pollinate an acre of fruit trees.
The greatest help you can give bees is to get off the pesticide treadmill. Replacing your lawn with a sustainable habitat for pollinators will also decrease your dependence on water for landscaping. Consider adding rosemary, and especially lavender, to your yard and provide a water source. Birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators benefit from a shallow edged birdbath. Increasing biodiversity with food sources for insects will turn you into an eco-being vs. an ego-being. Please, give Bees a chance.
When you need a Realtor, please consider calling me to help you relocate your “hive.”
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