Saturday 8 September 2018, 9:31am
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food”and it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good, And there was evening and there was morning – the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. Genesis 1:29-31
Among all insect pollinators, bees are considered a major contributor and the most important insect pollinators in the foods we enjoy like apples, peaches, hazelnuts and almonds along with their precious gift of honey. Bees feed themselves on the nectar of flowers and at the same time, collect pollen where it is stored in the bee hive until the pollen is made into honey.
These God gifted creatures not only produce sweet honey but are also known and admired by scientists for their ingenuity in the construction of their hives. Miraculously, bees build their hives into hexagon shapes as hexagon use the least amount of material and are also considered the most useful and strongest shape to hold the most weight!!
In the Bee collage below, steps show how flowers are pollinated when a bee visits. Pollination usually occurs this way by bees and also other insects like butterflies, moths, flies, etc. and birds like hummingbirds.
Though growers and farmers continue bringing delicious, healthy pollinated foods to market, there may come a time when abundance in our foods supplies and variety may come to a halt as reports show continued and steady decline in the number of bees and other pollinator insects like butterflies throughout the world.
Since 1990, it has been reported that as much as 25% of managed honey bees have disappeared. In 2006, bee keepers reported whole bee colonies disappearing. Bees left their hives and simply vanished. The unexplainable disappearance is today known as Colony Collapse Disorder. No one knows the exact reasons but researchers suspect continued diminishing spaces for wildlife and the increased growth of flowers that are not pollinator friendly, the increased use of pesticides against the bad insects also harm the good insects like bees, climate change and changing agricultural farm practices.
In the conclusion Pollination part 4, I will show how we can help support ourselves and our friend pollinators by listing links to pollination/pollinator organizations and an update status on bees. Through photo collages in the Wildlife Gallery, I will show bird and insect pollinators, pollinator friendly flower garden plants, and how wildlife – just like us – also reap the benefits of pollination to sustain and enrich their survival.
https://www.audubon.org/news/what-do-birds-and-bees-have-do-global-food-supply
http://beeaware.org.au/pollination/pollinator-reliant-crops/vegetables/
https://bees.techno-science.ca/english/bees/pollination/food-depends-on-bees.php
https://prairiecalifornian.com/sunflower-questions-answered-part-2/
https://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?260962-What-Nut-Bearing-Trees-Do-Bees-Like
http://pollinator.org/pollination
www.nrdc.org/polic
http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/facts/honey_bee_k6.html
https://askdruniverse.wsu.ed/2015/11/02/why-do-bees-make-hexagons/
https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/03/368622-humans-must-change-behaviour-save-bees-vital-food-production-un-report
