Bee wildered

Another article in today's Denver Post has me bee wildered. The USDA is spending $100,000,000 to try to find out why bees have been disappearing since 2006. The article says they still do not know why.

However, reading further into the article, one finds a couple of possible explanations. One is the tiny varroa mite, no larger than a pinhead, that feeds on the bodies of bees. It is said to be responsible for the decline in commercial operations, those that have more than 151 hives. The other possible reason is the queen bees, who just cannot find ways to live with each other. In spring swarming season, a new queen is produced in the hive. The old queen cannot stand to be in the same hive, so she just disappears, taking about half the worker bees with her.

The article points out how vital bees are to our crop economy. They are estimated to provide $15 billion dollars a year in pollination of crops such as tomatoes, blueberries, almonds, and peaches, not to mention my bright orange poppies, on which the bees have bee swarming for two weeks now.

In a movement dominated by women all across America, people are taking up bee keeping. Women know something about that "circle of life" thing.