I was pleased to see lots of bees visiting many of the flowers at The Butchart Gardens last month. I’ve long been concerned about dramatic declines in bee populations. It’s one of those things that has been given various reasons but the bottom line is that bee populations have been crashing. Be it microscopic mites or disease, pesticides, climate, or something else, bees are dying at alarming rates.
These little insects are very important if you care about eating. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 90% of the food eaten around the globe comes from 100 basic crops. Of these crops, 71 rely on bee pollination.
You can thank a bee for your daily coffee. Or apples, cherries, almonds, beans, grapes, and many spices. Click here if you’d like to see a list of crop plants pollinated by bees. And click here if you’d like to read a New York Times article about a beekeeper and the plight of honeybees.
These little guys are important, and worth caring about.
The thought of losing the bees is scary.
Excellent macros, Kay.
They are very important. Walking last week, I came across a dead bee on the path. I never seen one just lying there. It was strange and I wondered how and what caused his death. But you are right, they play an important role in pollinating our plants.
This is truly a frightening situation.
Great post, Kay. I don’t think many people realize how important bees are to our way of life. Unfortunately, too many others don’t care; especially if bees are getting in the way of their profits!
Indeed, bees are very important to our quality of life, the foods we eat depend on them. Nice shooting. And of I remember correctly, the Gardens have their own hives down on their “lower 40”.
Beeeeautiful images Kay, I spent my morning taking shots of these busy little VIP’s at work today 😊