Site Meter Earthly Garden » free range bees

free range bees

More on the disappearing bees…

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

Mornin’, earthly gardeners…

I’ve been watching the disappearing bee story carefully. Seems that reports are coming in that colonies of *organic* bees are not being affected as much as the non-organic hives. Huh. Can we say “I’m not surprised”? Anyway, I just ran across this story written by Dan Sorenson in the Arizona Daily Star. It seems that Dee Lusby, the owner of Lusby Apiaries, has 900 hives of “free range” organic bees. She’s only lost several hives since this whole mess started. Fascinating story! (BTW, it seems that the Africanized “killer bees” are also immune to whatever’s bothering the domestic hives.)

The experts now are agreeing that it might be a number of factors causing the disappearance….pesticides, lack of organic (as in, non-genetically modified) crops and plants, or perhaps some mite that has spread among susceptible bee populations.

It never occurred to me that my bees—actually, they aren’t MY bees, but I like to call them that–are a free-range organic hive. That has a nice ring to it! They’ve been BEEzy (groan) this week with the native yaupon holly, which is starting to bloom.

In other news, I’ve been working on a short piece about how you can build your own easy, inexpensive raised bed garden using plain old cement blocks you can buy at any home center, garden center or hardware store, and I hope to run that tomorrow with photos of some of mine.

Until then, dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright©2007 by Bobbi A. Chukran. All rights to photos and text reserved.

, , ,

About Earthly Garden

EarthlyGarden.com is all about simple ideas for creating your own earthly paradise, no matter how large or small. Real stories about real gardens and people who love gardening. Organic, natural, safe gardens for nature, humans and the environment. Tips, information, links, questions-and-answers, short articles, garden book reviews, old-fashioned wisdom. Dig it!

Earthly Garden Author(s)
    » Deirdre-Jones

Blogging Flair

Home & Garden Channel Posts

  • July 23, 2008 ...
    It is official - I have completed the first leg of my journey ... by completing my Associate Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Health-care Management. Whew, I did it. The next [...]
  • Oh My Goodness!
    My last post was July 4 ... no, it is not my fault ... in fact, it can not be blamed on any one person or event. Simply put, 451press was experiencing growing pains! I do not think TPTB really had a [...]
  • Speed Cleaning 101
    TotalMom.com's Hannah Keeley says that keeping the home fresh and clean in between regular cleanings doesn't have to be a hassle or time-consuming and may even shave some time off regular cleanings. [...]
  • HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
      [...]
  • BLOGS ... FOURTH OF JULY!
    If you have tried to get here over the past few weeks, you probably had trouble. The reason for the delays,“experiencing high load” message, and “unable to load page” is a change of server, [...]
  • Cost of Gas ... living rural
    Twenty miles is not far in today's 'global society', until you realize with gas at $4 a gallon and a vehicle that has a 12-14 gallon tank, that you will spend $48 for each full tank and average 28-31 [...]
  • Hot, Humid ... Sunny Rural South!
    Beautiful isn't it? This is what can be seen as you drive through South Carolina at this time of year in many areas. The drive, even with the price of gas is worth it. Put South Carolina on your list [...]
  • Summer Cones
    It's summer time and that does in fact mean that ice cream cones are in abundance. If you have little ones around like I do (or big messy ones, like me!), remember the marshmallow trick! The next [...]
  • Airports ... People Watching!
    What a hoot! Yesterday I spent an hour watching people at the airport in the baggage claim area while waiting for my daughter's flight to arrive. The hour was much better than prime time TV - the [...]
  • NOSTALGIA: 1968, The Year That Changed the World - TIME
    My goodness, it was just a trip to the Super Wal-mart to pick up medications from our friendly pharmacy staff and a few grocery items. Then waiting in the check-out line, "it" caught my eye - TIME [...]

Hot Off The Press

  • The Birth of Religion - Part 13
    by Seeker Some of the new knowledge we have come to from science tells us that the Earth is in flux. The surface of the planet is still recovering from the Ice Age, both in climate and in physical [...]
  • Thirteen Writing Prompts
    Hello and happy Thursday Thirteen everyone! This week’s Thursday Thirteen prompts are going to continue on with prompts, questions, first lines, and other inspiration to help you get [...]
  • Ways to Cook a Good Pepper
    Peppers have been used in many dishes since the beginning of man kind on plant earth. The Indians used peppers of all varieties in their medicine practices as well. Peppers continue to be a staple [...]
  • Build an Awesome Burger
    Four of the best hamburgers can be made in your own kitchen or backyard tonight for dinner. Here's how their made. • Big Kahuna Burger 10 oz. ground turkey, divided into two patties 4 [...]
  • Coco Sumner does her dad proud
    Performing before a large crowd at a charity benefit, Coco Sumner, only 17 years old, is sure making her daddy proud. This young chick's dad only happens to be none other than the legendary Sting, [...]
  • HOH Blogs and pictures!
    For those that have been searching the CBS site for the HOH Blogs and Photos - they've finally appeared! Click here to check it out! [...]
  • The View Schedule July 28-August 1st
    Here is the guest line-up for The View for July 28th-August 1st, which will be the last week before the show's month-long hiatus. I really hope that the hosts learned from their last experience with [...]
  • Day One Highlights from Media Days
    The RazorVision team provides quotes and notes from the first four teams appearing at the Southeastern Conference Football Media Days. Click on the video link for your free view of RazorV [...]
  • If everybody was like me, the world would be perfect!
    Bet that title grabbed your eye! But isn't that the way we all feel? If our families would just listen to us, do what we say/recommend/order, then life would be so much easier! At work, [...]
  • Sherri Shepherd Discusses Precious Times Article (video)
    Here is a video clip of The View on Wednesday July 23 where Sherri Shepherd sought to clarify comments that she made in an interview with Precious Times about her prior history of abortions and [...]