LightBears

As I said in my earlier post, hurray, Spring is finally here in northern New England!!

I am writing now to encourage everyone to go gently in your yard cleanup, and remember the precious pollinators that help put food on the table and beauty for our eyes to admire.

I am including here helpful advice from some kind individuals on Facebook. Where the information as to the creator/artist was included, I have done likewise; sadly, I do not know all the wonderful people who wrote or contributed these — yet I share them here in the hope that, by publicizing them, I am furthering the work that the originators hoped to accomplish.

Among the pollinators are honeybees, butterflies, flies, bumblebees, ants (yes, believe it or not, ants!) If you grow peonies, you will see it is the ants, drawn to the flowers, that actually help the peony bloom to its fullest!!

To start our conversation, I would like to take a moment to sing the praise of the common honeybee. They do so many wonderful amazing things, from pollinating trees (apples, oranges, pears, and more), berry bushes (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, to name a few); flowers (we love those beautiful color combinations that are the result of cross-pollination from one kind of flower to another); tomato plants, cucumber plants, zucchini, and so many more, to bear fruit for our tables; and, of course, making honey, which is so healthy and delicious!

Many fear the little honeybee for their sting — but truly, if you don’t bother them, and you are not posing a threat to their hive, they are gentle and would prefer not to sting you! Unlike wasps or yellowjackets/hornets, the poor bee actually dies from using its stinger.

Here is a photograph showing how artistic honeybees can be — isn’t this a marvel of nature?!! They didn’t go to art school to learn how to do this, or even go online to check the details!!

Out of respect for the pollinators and the other members of the insect kingdom who contribute to the wellbeing of our healthy planet, I do need to mention something that flies in the face of what has sometimes become emblematic of the “American Dream”: the lawn. I recognize there are reasons why people want to tend to their lawns, but please bear a few things in mind: the fertilizer gets into the water supply, polluting it with its nitrogen and killing fish and allowing bacterial growth that will interfere with our ability to drink it safely; the water that is used to keep the lawn looking green is being drawn from a limited resource (as people in the Midwest, sadly, are coming to terms with); and in planting/tending lawns, we are removing essential plants like the dandelion, which is actually among the first sources of food for the honeybees!

Collective Conservation

And, just a thought to remember:

Enjoy your gardens, listen to the birds and bees and more, and remember, be a LightBear!!!