Missourians, Can We Save The Bees? Lets Garden Native Plants This Summer

If any of you do any gardening or have various types of flowers around your home, perhaps you may have seen bees slowly start showing up and pollinate your plants and such.  This is a good thing.  Bees are actually going down in numbers, and this is not a good thing.  You can help.

• They Pollinate Food Crops. Honeybees always travel incredible distances to look for pollen.
• They Pollinate Wild Plants. Bees not only help with food crops, but they also pollinate wild plants.
• They Produce Honey.
• Honey Products.
• Employment.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) and its Grow Native! program have many resources to help Missourians help bees.

Many bee species are tied to specific natural communities, like prairie, which, along with other native grasslands, provides habitat for more species of pollinating insects than any other land type in Missouri.

If you plan on doing any planting, you are encouraged to plant native plants and you can do it in your gardens, or around your homes.  One thing this will do, will be to help the 450 species of bees that Missouri has.  It will beautify your property, enhance the habitat of the bees and help them survive.  If you have flowers that bloom at different times of the year, that would be even better.

Think of it this way.  If you love honey, you may not be able to get as much of it, if the bee population continues to decrease.  You can read more about what you can do HERE.  I know you may have allergies to be concerned with, and I am not a fan of those suckers when they are buzzing around me.  But for the most part, if you leave them alone, they leave you alone. They do a lot of good for our environment.  So look out for them this summer.  And try not to get stung.    :)