The Bees are the Bees Knees!

As a kid, you never wonder where bees are at. You only notice them when you get freaked out and start squealing and running like a moron when you see one.

Now that I'm all grown up (yeah right!), I actually give a crap about bees, and the apparent lack of them. Everyone is wondering: Where you at, bees??

Have you noticed the honey bee die off? I was moving last summer, so I didn't plant a garden, and thus wasn't paying as much attention to whether there were bees in my yard. This year I'm all up in our new MPLS garden, and wondering WTF is going on with da bees?!?

According to Bev Johnson, author of the honey bee die off article I linked above (which you may or may not have read): "One theory is that the fungus that either killed the bees or came later, is producing a toxin so repellent that the bees desert the hive. Or, parasitic mites are killing them and the mite killing chemicals are building up in the wax and killing bees. Or its a fungus, or a virus, or chemicals sprayed on the various crops. No one really knows at this point."

This year I've planted:
Pink Brandywine tomatoes (heirloom) - big and red
Sun Gold tomatoes (heirloom) - small and yellow
Persimmon tomatoes (heirloom) - medium and orange
check out photos and descriptions of all tomato varitals here!
Rattlesnake pole beans (heirloom)
red bell peppers
cucumbers
crimson pixie lilies
variegated hostas
vinca minor
a golden showers rose bush (hehe)
several impatiens
other random flowers in pots
gerg had planted tons of hostas a couple years back

Will the bees come to my garden? So far, the outlook is good. It looks like we're in store for a bumper crop of sun gold tomatoes, based on the dozens that are hanging on the vines, and the brandywine are producing fruit as well.

"So, what can gardeners do to help their bees? First, plant lots of flowering plants and shrubs. Don't use pesticides as they kill more pollinators than bad bugs."

I've planted some flowers this year, not a ton, but my neighbors don't plant anything! The flower-to-house ratio in our neighborhood is woefully low, IMO. JEERS!! My garden is organic from topsoil to fertilizer, so there ain't no pesticides to scare the bees off.

Perhaps I'll need to craft a beeblock, except I'll prolly call it the BeeBopBlock and blast Charlie Parker, but not Led Zeppelin, in my garden....cuz I'm a nerd like that.