Monday, 26 May 2008
Friday, 23 May 2008
The Birds & the Bees!
Well hellooo
I have been so busy out and about that my blog is falling behind. What amazes me is how some people blogg everyday, maybe its their online diary.
So its May, the land is lush and green and it feels like Summer is here. I love the scent of Hawthorn blossom in blousy cream clouds on the hedgerows, and up and down the country the May queens have been crowned. Reminiscent of a time gone by when the goddess ( the earth) was celebrated as she mated with the green god to bring fertility back to the land. The birds are mating and the bees are buzzing, in more ways than one! Talking of bees, do you know that for every 3 mouthfuls of food you eat 2 of them was made by pollination by insects.
Bees are dwindling rapidly in this country and up to 60% in the USA. The thinking is and some research has suggested that radiation from mobile phones and other high tech gadgets are responsible. I also think loss of habitat with the massive building going on in this country is also contributing.
Infact where I live we have a lovely lane full of nettles and wild flowers. Some crazy person who lives in a neat bungalow with a very neat garden tends to take it upon themselves to strim the wild verges of everything above 1cm high!. It infuriates me. These small messy verges with nettles and wild forget me knots are an eco system that feeds bees, insects, butterflies and birds for the whole of the summer. This very "neat " person thinks it looks a mess and wipes it all out. Despite complaining to the local council, and the Parish council, no one seems to care. They probably think I am quite mad. Well if and when the day comes that bees have deserted us and we have failed crops and no food, they may just feel a little uneasy that they contributed to it!
The implications of the spread of bees deserting hives is alarming. Most of the world's crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left". Scary!
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines.
Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause.
Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."
What you can do to help
Plant bee friendly flowers . In areas of the country where there are few agricultural crops, honeybees rely upon garden flowers to ensure they have a diverse diet and to provide nectar and pollen. Encourage honeybees to visit your garden by planting single flowering plants and vegetables. Go for all the allium family, all the mints, all beans except French beans and flowering herbs. Bees like daisy-shaped flowers - asters and sunflowers, also tall plants like hollyhocks, larkspur and foxgloves. Bees need a lot of pollen and trees are a good source of food. Willows and lime trees are exceptionally good. check out the bee keeping website http://www.britishbee.org.uk/index.php
Buy local honey.- also this is good for people who suffer from hay fever
Honey is also a natural antiseptic and never goes off. Infact you can use honey on cuts to act as a natural antiseptic. Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs still fresh and edible after 3000 years!
Bees have always been revered as mysterious creatures and infact we owe quite a few of our English language sayings to the humble bee:-
Mind your beeswax- mind your own business
Tell it to the bees- to keep a secret
The bees knees- Absolute cream of the crop, excellent.
The Hindu gods Vishnu, Krishna and Indra were called Madhava or "nectar born ones", and were often represented as bees perched on a lotus flower. Madhava is derived from madhu meaning honey, which seems to be related to the saxon medu meaning mead, and also the name of the celtic queen of the fairies Madb.
Known as messangers of God by some country folk, the bee were thought to have special knowledge of the future, and to kill one brought extreme bad luck. Bees have been acknowledged throughout history from Egyptian, Celts, to the Elysium mysteries, Roman, and Greek mythology and foklore.
The legs of a Bee are covered with fine hairs which allow them to collect pollen to bring to their hives and make honey. They can also “taste” through their legs.
Dont confuse bees with wasps. If a bee stings you it dies, if a wasp stings you it goes on to live another day and sting again, and again,,,,,,and again!
Have a fab Bank holiday weekend
Gillian :)
I have been so busy out and about that my blog is falling behind. What amazes me is how some people blogg everyday, maybe its their online diary.
So its May, the land is lush and green and it feels like Summer is here. I love the scent of Hawthorn blossom in blousy cream clouds on the hedgerows, and up and down the country the May queens have been crowned. Reminiscent of a time gone by when the goddess ( the earth) was celebrated as she mated with the green god to bring fertility back to the land. The birds are mating and the bees are buzzing, in more ways than one! Talking of bees, do you know that for every 3 mouthfuls of food you eat 2 of them was made by pollination by insects.
Bees are dwindling rapidly in this country and up to 60% in the USA. The thinking is and some research has suggested that radiation from mobile phones and other high tech gadgets are responsible. I also think loss of habitat with the massive building going on in this country is also contributing.
Infact where I live we have a lovely lane full of nettles and wild flowers. Some crazy person who lives in a neat bungalow with a very neat garden tends to take it upon themselves to strim the wild verges of everything above 1cm high!. It infuriates me. These small messy verges with nettles and wild forget me knots are an eco system that feeds bees, insects, butterflies and birds for the whole of the summer. This very "neat " person thinks it looks a mess and wipes it all out. Despite complaining to the local council, and the Parish council, no one seems to care. They probably think I am quite mad. Well if and when the day comes that bees have deserted us and we have failed crops and no food, they may just feel a little uneasy that they contributed to it!
The implications of the spread of bees deserting hives is alarming. Most of the world's crops depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left". Scary!
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides, global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines.
Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause.
Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."
What you can do to help
Plant bee friendly flowers . In areas of the country where there are few agricultural crops, honeybees rely upon garden flowers to ensure they have a diverse diet and to provide nectar and pollen. Encourage honeybees to visit your garden by planting single flowering plants and vegetables. Go for all the allium family, all the mints, all beans except French beans and flowering herbs. Bees like daisy-shaped flowers - asters and sunflowers, also tall plants like hollyhocks, larkspur and foxgloves. Bees need a lot of pollen and trees are a good source of food. Willows and lime trees are exceptionally good. check out the bee keeping website http://www.britishbee.org.uk/index.php
Buy local honey.- also this is good for people who suffer from hay fever
Honey is also a natural antiseptic and never goes off. Infact you can use honey on cuts to act as a natural antiseptic. Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs still fresh and edible after 3000 years!
Bees have always been revered as mysterious creatures and infact we owe quite a few of our English language sayings to the humble bee:-
Mind your beeswax- mind your own business
Tell it to the bees- to keep a secret
The bees knees- Absolute cream of the crop, excellent.
The Hindu gods Vishnu, Krishna and Indra were called Madhava or "nectar born ones", and were often represented as bees perched on a lotus flower. Madhava is derived from madhu meaning honey, which seems to be related to the saxon medu meaning mead, and also the name of the celtic queen of the fairies Madb.
Known as messangers of God by some country folk, the bee were thought to have special knowledge of the future, and to kill one brought extreme bad luck. Bees have been acknowledged throughout history from Egyptian, Celts, to the Elysium mysteries, Roman, and Greek mythology and foklore.
The legs of a Bee are covered with fine hairs which allow them to collect pollen to bring to their hives and make honey. They can also “taste” through their legs.
Dont confuse bees with wasps. If a bee stings you it dies, if a wasp stings you it goes on to live another day and sting again, and again,,,,,,and again!
Have a fab Bank holiday weekend
Gillian :)
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