How You Can Help Save the Honey Bees

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Ways to help save honey bees and why it matters so much
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While I love my beeswax candles and have many healthy uses for honey, the importance of the honey bee goes well beyond what they produce directly. Many of the foods we eat rely to some degree on the honey bee for pollination.

Why the Honey Bee Matters So Much

For crops like strawberries, honey bees increase the number and size of the berries, while other crops like almonds rely 100% on honey bee pollination. If the honey bee population declines, many crops will suffer. No honey bees, no almond butter.

High bee losses last year (42% of colonies died from April 2014 to April 2015) have lead many to ask what they can do to help. Here are a few steps that each of us can take to do our part and help keep the honey bee population strong.

Feed The Bees

With the quest for a greener, weed-free lawn and pretty, longer lasting flowers, we have depleted many food sources for the honey bee. Not only have many homeowners eliminated dandelions (a great early spring pollen source which helps boost brood rearing and natural superfood) and clover, many trees and flowers sold today have been modified. These modifications may increase their beauty, but to the detriment of their nectar production and therefore their benefit to the honey bee.

Flowers Are Good

There are many beautiful flowers that provide bees with the pollen and nectar they need, such as Sunflowers, Asters, Black-eyed Susans, Purple Coneflower, Horsemint, Blue Giant Hyssop, Hyacinth, Borage, Crocus, Zinnias, Asters, just to name a few.

To find a list of flowers, as well as trees and shrubs, that are best suited for honey bees and other pollinators in your area check out the free planting guide available at Pollinator.org

Your local greenhouse is another great place to visit and ask about planting for honey bees. During one of my visits to a greenhouse this spring I noticed an entire section of flowers and shrubs dedicated to attracting pollinators.

Trees Are Even Better

While many of us think of planting flowers for bees, what many people don’t realize is that in most areas the honey bee’s primary source of nectar is from flowering trees.

However, all flowering trees are not created equal. For example, the very popular Bradford Pear, with all its many flowers, is a very poor nectar source for bees.

There are many great landscaping trees that the bees love such as Tulip Poplar, Maple, Redbud, Cherry, Crab Apple, and Holly.

Choosing one of these beneficial landscaping trees is one of the best ways to feed the bees in your area.

Here is a full list of bee-friendly plants you can grow in your yard.

Things To Avoid

While bees are not “pests,” most “pesticides” do not discriminate. Even organic pest controls can have a negative impact on bees and therefore it is important to keep honey bees and other beneficial pollinators in mind before using any pest treatments.

If pest control must be used:

  • Only use organic methods to control pests
  • Apply pest control in the evening hours (or even at night) when most bees will have returned to their hive
  • Avoid getting any pest control substances in standing water, as the bees will transport this water into the hive for drinking and temperature regulation

It is also important to make sure to avoid buying plants that have been treated with neonicotinoids. “Neonics” as they are sometimes referred to, are a type of pesticide that becomes part of the plant and actually turns the plant itself into the pesticide which includes its pollen and nectar.

Neonics have become widely used in U.S. agriculture and many believe that it could be one of the factors contributing to increased bee losses. Plants that have been treated with neonics (which is done through the application of a seed coating) should be clearly marked and easily avoided if you are keeping an eye out when making your plant selections.

Support Beekeepers

One of the best ways to support bees is to support those who have a passion for bees, the beekeeper. (Side note, my oldest son has recently become fascinated by bees and beekeeping and now has his own hive that he cares for weekly.)

Buy Local Honey

Not only do beekeepers face increased bee losses from the Verroa destructor (a fitting name for a harmful invasive bee mite), increased pesticide use, and disease, they also have to compete with imported and often adulterated honey sold at bargain prices in supermarkets.

Buying your honey from a local beekeeper who you can get to know and trust will not only go a long way toward supporting a healthy bee population, it will also ensure you get good, quality honey.

Buy Beeswax

Many beekeepers also sell beeswax that they gather and refine from the cappings they remove during honey extraction. I use beeswax for lotion bars, homemade lip balm and for beeswax candles.

Buy Other Bee Products

Royal jelly, bee pollen, and bee propolis are other useful bee products that are beneficial for reducing allergies, boosting immunity, nutrition, and more. Check out this podcast to learn about the full spectrum of bee products and a great company that makes them. I also wrote a full post about the science-backed benefits of bee pollen and plan to write about more other bee products soon.

Buy Local Organic Produce

Buying organic food is not only good for you, but it is good for the honey bees. The more organic food that is purchased, the higher the demand will be. As the demand for organic food goes up, pesticide use will go down. Less pesticide use creates a safer environment for the honey bee.

Support Beekeeping Ordinances

While beekeeping is growing in popularity, not all areas allow keeping bees within the city limits. You can support beekeepers by becoming informed about the ordinances where you live and supporting movements to allow backyard beekeeping in your community.

Report Swarms

Another way to help the bees and beekeepers alike is to keep your eye out for swarms. Honey bees propagate by sending out swarms containing their old queen and about half the bees in the hive, meaning thousands of bees. If you have ever seen a swarm in motion it can be one of the most intimidating and at the same time thrilling things you will ever experience.

After leaving the hive the bees will settle in a large cluster of solid bees anywhere from the size of a soft ball to the size of a volleyball. The intimidating nature of this enormous number of bees has sadly lead to many cases of homeowners panicking and spraying the harmless cluster of bees with any number of deadly sprays.

While these swarms can be intimidating, swarming bees are actually at their most docile because they do not have a hive to defend and have filled their bellies with honey for the long journey to establish a new home site.

If you spot a swarm, call a beekeeper and they will come (or pass word to another beekeeper) and safely remove the bees and add them to their apiary. If you don’t know any local beekeepers, check the label on the last jar of local honey you purchased and give that beekeeper a call. If you still can’t contact a beekeeper, a quick post on social media will likely reveal a beekeeping connection you didn’t even know you had.

Change Your Thinking On Bees

Several years ago I decided we needed more bees for our garden and began the process of starting a hive. When I set up my bee hive I got them in place and carefully opened the entrance. When a few bees came out I jumped back and reacted like they were out to get me. I had to laugh at myself and at this ingrained reaction. Beekeeping became a lesson in “unlearning” what I thought I knew about bees.

Unlearn What You “Know” About Bees

The first thing I had to do was really think back throughout my childhood at the different encounters I had with bees and getting stung and I had an epiphany. All my experiences with “bees” were not with honey bees, but with yellow jackets and other wasps. I had to recondition myself to separate honey bees (wonderful, honey making pollinators to whom we owe so much of our food production) from wasps (awful, nasty stinging machines). I now find myself asking people who have a negative story about “bees” if they are actually talking about honey bees or wasps.

When you grow in respect for the honey bee and perhaps stop to watch one move from flower to flower, you find yourself thinking about them completely differently. Suddenly, dandelions and clover in the yard look less like weeds to be removed and more like nourishment for a bee colony. A buzzing honey bee becomes something to watch and follow in the yard rather than something to fear.

Pass On A Respect For Bees

Once we gain this new respect for honey bees and the ability to distinguish them from wasps we can pass this on to our kids as well. If anything, my kids have too little reservations and I have to remind them not to pick the bees up.

Learn More

To deepen your knowledge of bees, consider picking up a book on beekeeping, even if you don’t plan on keeping your own bees. I bet you will find them to be even more fascinating than you thought! If you are a nerd like me, you might enjoy a more technical and research heavy book on bees such as The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism or Honeybee Democracy.

Become A Beekeeper

If you are looking for a more hands on approach to saving the honey bee and want to add some excitement to your life, consider becoming a beekeeper. Keep in mind there are start up costs and a learning curve so it will take commitment, but it is sure to give you a deeper admiration for the honey bee and some amazing experiences. If all goes well you may even get a bit of honey!

The key to starting out on the right foot is to start planning early. Begin now by reading about beekeeping and more importantly, by making connections with beekeepers in your area. Ask around, it may surprise you to find out that someone you know keeps bees. Many areas will even have beekeeping associations that meet monthly. This is a great place to make the connections that will become so valuable when you start your first hive.

Host A Hive

Interested but not ready to take the leap? That’s okay, you can still get up close and hands on with the bees.

Not Quite Ready To Be A Beekeeper Yet?

Beekeepers have a passion for what they do and many of them would be more than willing to let you tag along for a hive inspection. You will want to make sure that the beekeeper you arrange with has an extra bee suit/veil or you may even consider buying yourself a bee suit.

Another option is to bring the bees to you! There are many beekeepers out there that would love to have another location to keep a hive. You could offer to host a hive in your yard or on your land. Keep in mind that this means the beekeeper will be stopping by to inspect the bees as often as weekly in the spring.

You should also make sure that you are ready to make the commitment, because while hives can be moved if you change your mind, you can imagine there is some work involved in relocating an active hive. But if you’re up for it, this could be a great way to help the honey bee population and gain firsthand experience that just may become a stepping stone to getting your own hive.

Have you considered becoming a beekeeper?

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Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

26 responses to “How You Can Help Save the Honey Bees”

  1. Sally Avatar

    I’m so glad to see some comments about native bees. Honey bees are not native and although important, they do not provide the same ecosystem services as native bees.

  2. Beatriz Moisset Avatar
    Beatriz Moisset

    Worldwide there are more beehives now than ever before. It is true that honey bees are in trouble in some cases but they are doing relatively well in others. The main threats are the human introduced Varroa mite, pesticides and some beekeeping methods such as migratory hives that stress them and expose them to contagion from other hives.

    On the other hand, some species of solitary bees and bumble bees are in great danger. They need help providing habitat, resources (that is native flowers), and pesticides reduction or elimination.

    Most wasps rarely sting. Even yellowjackets are not anxious to do so. It only happens when they or their nests feel threatened. Moreover wasps are extremely important pest controls because they consume large amounts of insects.

  3. Steinn Andersen Avatar
    Steinn Andersen

    Well, the individual honey bee are in at rather poor pollinators compared to wild bee (solitary bee and bumble bee) because of the lack of hairs. Look at the wild bees and they all have much more hair than the honey bees. The honey bee are effective pollinators due to their shear number, but they unfortunately have bad effects on the wild bee communities.

  4. Angie Avatar

    I overseeded my yard with Dutch clover on purpose (nitrogen-fixer that actually keeps the grass greener and healthier!) but dandelions are so ugly I can’t stand them. Their presence is also a sign that your grass is doing poorly, and you have bare patches where they can take hold. Plus the neighbors hate them :\. I wish I could allow them for the bees, but alas. However, our front yard was such a mess of dense shade and hot sun that the grass was impossible to grow there with any regularity, so we smothered it and planted a native mix over the whole thing. I have hundreds of bumbles, long-horned, sweat bees, soldier beetles, etc. buzzing around all day long. I consider that more than fair 🙂

  5. Diane Avatar

    I have been a beekeeper for 10 yrs. my partner 40 yrs. He had the benefit of bee keeping before the varroa mite arrived in USA.
    Bee keeping is a wonderful hobby.
    Good for the environment and humans.
    Thank you for writing about helping the bees. ?

  6. Fiona Avatar

    Here in BC you can rent hives for a small payment and you split the honey with the company. I think it’s a wonderful idea.

  7. Adrienne Avatar
    Adrienne

    Also please be aware one of the best ways to support the local farmer and beekeeper is to protect them and understand them. In my home state, towns try to shut down several farms a week by frivolous nuisance complaints, the towns often know there is not any basis to the complaint, but push it through as they want to develop the land the farm is on. There are many communities where the only developing land that reminds is farmland. I never believed it until I looked into it recently.

  8. LaraS Avatar

    I have a huge bush of sage that I can “hear” better even than I can see it. They love the place.

    This post is very timely for me because I have been toying with the idea of keeping bees for weeks now. I am just a little scared of the initial investment, though, it seems to be rather large from what I’ve read. Did you start off buying your beehive as is or did you do something more DIY-ish?

  9. Christina Avatar
    Christina

    Is there a reason why I am seeing lots of bumblebees and not honey bees on our property?

    1. Angie Avatar

      It may just be related to where you live in proximity to hives. I also see mostly bumbles and I am nowhere near farmland. It’s also possible that honeybees are declining more than bumbles in your area.

    2. Steinn Andersen Avatar
      Steinn Andersen

      There are no honey bee hives in your vicinity. Honey bees compete with bumble bees, and win.

    3. Steinn Andersen Avatar
      Steinn Andersen

      By the way, bumble bees and other wild bees (solitary bees) are much better pollinators than honey bees.

  10. ALexander Kershaw Avatar
    ALexander Kershaw

    This is the best post on honey bees for the general public I have ever read. I am a long time hobby beekeeper in California, New Jersey and now Ecuador.

  11. Virginia Miner Avatar
    Virginia Miner

    If I ever live on a bigger lot than our little city place I would LOVE to keep bees!!

    1. Alexander Avatar
      Alexander

      I have kept bees on a roof that had the added benefits that the neighbors didn’t know they were there and the bees had a safe more natural altitude for their entrance/exit. I have also kept them on a second story balcony, Same benefits and the added pleasure of being able to watch them from the comfort of bed. There are people who keep them in their NYC apartments. Do as Mama says and look up a local beekeepers association. There will be a trove of info and help at your disposal and you will meet some very interesting people. Good Keeping

  12. Darlene Avatar
    Darlene

    Dear WM,
    My husband and I are mourning the loss of our 4 hives. After 15 years of beekeeping, we have been forced to stop due to both of us developing a bee allergy. When stung, the venom stays in your system and never leaves. After repeated stinging over the years, and then an aggressive hive last year (we were stung several times in one harvesting event), we had to give up our 4 hives.
    It truly is an amazing hobby that brought us so much joy. The honey bee is an amazing creature to watch and understand. Our garden always looked amazing. Everything we planted, we did with them in mind. Flowers, vegetables, and trees were all for them. Now, it is the middle of July in the Northeast and we have not yielded one cucumber or tomato yet! We haven’t even seen a honey bee all summer!
    Having the bees in our yard, I always took for granted the actual plight of the bee. We always saw them! Now, the bee community is right! There truly is a problem with our bees. Where have all the bees gone?
    If we don’t take a stand and take care of this amazing creature, we will have 5 quick years to lose most food sources! We will be beekeepers again! We need more beekeepers too! Do it! It is such a fun and awesome way to give back to this amazing creature. ?????

  13. Mandy Avatar

    I love this post! Our yard is full of “weeds” like clover and dandelion. We also have apple trees and peach trees, both of which were covered up in bees when they bloomed. We have lots of sunflowers, zinnias, and other flowering plants. The bees also seem to really like my calendula plants and chamomile bed. We’ve had honey bees in the yard since February. Weer love to watch them and know that our little corner lot might be helping them somehow. We don’t have any place to keep bees here, but my husband’s family lives on 3000 acres in the mountains and they have recently started keeping a rather large colony. When we visit, our kids think watching them come and go is the coolest thing. We teach the kids that bees (and lots of other so called pests) ate important parts of our world’s balance and that you don’t get rid of them but learn to live in harmony with them. Thank you for another great post!

    1. Kolleen Dohermann Avatar
      Kolleen Dohermann

      Awesome! I have a chaste tree and it is alive with all kinds of bees, mostly bumble bees. It smells wonderful and is a smallish tree if you find space. Pull up a chair and enjoy!

  14. Linda Avatar

    The only thing I disagree with is that wasps are ‘nasty” and (implied) that they are not useful. Wasps are often given a bad rap. Like bees they can pollinate and are good at getting rid of pests that can eat/destroy plants. Yes, their sting is painful. So stay away from them, give them space and a little respect. They do serve a purpose in nature so why make them into an enemy in your yard?

    1. Kolleen Dohermann Avatar
      Kolleen Dohermann

      I have read that wasps can be social. I leave them alone and they never bother me.

      1. Sally Avatar

        Many wasps are also parasites of insect pests. For instance tiny, harmless wasps are used as a biological control of the invasive lily leaf beetle.

    2. Lori Avatar

      Wow that’s so interesting! I was always told they don’t serve a purpose. I feel bad now. Thanks for the info 🙂

    3. Valerie Avatar

      I totally agree about leaving wasps alone. We had one or two wasp nests in the ground in various locations of our yard for two or three years in a row. My hubby wanted to kill them, and I said “No!!!! They are part of nature/the ecosystem. Let’s just give them their space.” We read that they would eat parasites in our yard. That sounded great to me. We did not see any nests this year. So, I guess they moved on. I am so glad that my hubby agreed to leave them alone. (They had stung him while mowing the lawn, so he had a personal reason for wanting to eradicate them! 🙂 )

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