Common Sense Home

Using sound judgment to be more self-reliant.

Posts may contain affiliate links, which allow me to earn a commission to support the site at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
You are here: Home / Archives for bumblebees

Bumblebee – Super Charged Pollinator for Your Yard and Garden

By 2 Comments

bumblebee on chive blossom with text overlay "Bumblebee - super charger pollinator"

The bumblebee is the gardener's friend because it is a great pollinator. Bumblebees are bigger than the common honeybee, and more round and “furry”. Like the honeybee, bumblebees feed on nectar and pollen, so planting a variety of flowers and flowering trees and shrubs for honeybees helps their giant cousins, too. We'll share some information on why bumblebees are so important, their life-cycle, and how to attract them to your yard and garden. [Read more…] about Bumblebee – Super Charged Pollinator for Your Yard and Garden

5 Tips for a Bee Friendly Yard – Do Your Part to Save the Bees

By 9 Comments

Bee on flowers

Bees, bees, bees! Whether it's honey bees, bumblebees, mason bees or other native bees, we need our bees. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has taken a terrible toll on honeybees. The USDA Agricultural Research Service states that as of May 2015:

Total annual losses were 42.1 percent for April 2014 through April 2015. The new figure is up from 34.2 percent for 2013-2014.

You don't have to be a math whiz to know that those percentages spell trouble. So far as I know, there's no consensus on whether the problem is due to one or more causes – mites, pesticides, Rudolf Steiner's prediction of a weakened bee genome due to artificial queening, limited varieties of pollen for commercial hives – they just can't say for sure.

So what can you do to help the bees? You can create a bee friendly yard and garden; support responsible apiaries by buying honey, beeswax and other bee products from trusted sources; and join an Adopt a Hive program. Let's start with a bee friendly landscape. [Read more…] about 5 Tips for a Bee Friendly Yard – Do Your Part to Save the Bees

Terms of Use - Privacy Policy - Disclosure