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i am a creative person. mother to a daughter who is an active young woman and a constant blessing in my life. i hope that you enjoy your visit here and that you will return often.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Saving the Bees at Photo Art Friday

  
 
"Unique among all God's creatures, only the honeybee improves the environment and preys not on any other species." ~ Royden Brown


"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." ~ Albert Einstein

 
 
Colony collapse disorder in bee populations has increased this year, wiping out as much as half of commercial honeybees. The New York Times has this story as front page news in their print version, but you can read online how this problem will mean smaller harvest and higher prices on produce. 
 
 
Ingredients Magazine has an interesting article just out on the continuing problem of  our Disappearing Honey Bees
 
 
 
 
We rely on honey bees for one-third of our food supply (one out of every three bites), so when honey bees are in danger, we’re all in danger.
 
 
 
Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it's the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.
 
 
 
The average worker bee produces about 1/12th teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
 
 
 
A hive of bees will fly 90,000 miles, the equivalent of three orbits around the earth to collect 1 kg (not quite 3 cups) of honey.


A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.


 
 
additional links:
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bee friending the bees - Ways to help

  • promote bee habitat - plants and flowers
  • plant nectar producing plants
  • do not spray insecticide
  • wherever possible do not mow flowering plants (dandelions are a life saver for bees)
  • support research - $
  • gardening for honeybees: a bee needs water and flowers to survive. you can attract them with blue, purple, yellow or white flowers such as lilacs, honeysuckles, sunflowers and azaleas. bees also love herbs such as mint, lavender and thyme. They avoid flowers that have had the nectar and pollen bred out of them (like many contemporary rose breeds).
  • consider becoming a backyard beekeeper


SOME RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON THE ART OF BACKYARD BEEKEEPING:

*The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden by Kim Flottum
*The Beekeeper's Handbook by Diana Sammataro
*The Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes & Other Home Uses by Richard A Jones and Sharon Sweeney-Lynch

 




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linking up with:
Photo Art Friday:

"This week our optional theme/challenge is to create a piece of photo-art that contains some sort of graffiti.  It can be a photograph of graffiti that you have digitally edited or a photograph upon which you have applied text to look like graffiti.  As always, any piece of photo-art is welcome.  Following the optional challenge is not obligatory - that's why it's optional!"

16 comments:

  1. Please do not typify animals as good and bad. Ecology tells us that all creatures have their role in nature, and we need them all for a healthy environment. Even predators are vital for nature to function. Honeybees are important, but so are ALL the other species. pippa

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    1. what i did was to respond to a challenge with Photo Art Friday which was to create an image that contained graffiti. i decided to create my own graffiti within my image (using my own photos) and to use bees and their mysterious decline over the past several years as a subject for this particular 'assignment' because it's something that i do care deeply and personally about. the image is all mine but having said that, i didn't claim the quotes as my own and the 'factoids' and other bits that were placed under the image that i created were all collected from various sources on the internet. i simply included them in my post as a way to provide information about bees in general and to allow the readers of my post to find more information should they choose to do so. in fact, this is one of the few posts (maybe the only post) that I've done in which i didn't have any commentary about my own personal thoughts at all. i do understand that "all creatures have their role in nature, and we need them all for a healthy environment." however, i made a choice to represent the bee at this time. maybe at some other time i will choose to represent another creature.



      btw: one of the informational bits that i included did say (in part) that "when honey bees are in danger, we’re all in danger." i take this "all" to mean every creature on the planet could be effected by this decline. not just humans but all creatures.

      i do happen to believe that some species have a greater ecological impact on overall species preservation than others. i think that this could be scientifically proven to be true.



      i appreciate your comment Pippa and am happy to know that you read my blog/post. i hope that my response to your comment clarifies what this post's particular purposes were.



      i hope that you will visit again soon.



      :-)

      libbyQ

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  2. Thanks for all the info. Great that you tied your graffiti to making people aware of the bees plight.

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  3. Wow Libby!! This post is such a great public service. I'm so glad you used this theme as an opportunity to share this important information. I learned SO much.

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  4. Thanks for bringing additional attention to this problem. I'll have to add beekeeping to my farm dream.

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  5. Oh, I'm sad about the bees.
    Happy Easter, Libby Q!

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  6. I love your photo. I agree we do need bees. I hope you have a happy Easter. Hugs

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  7. Great post and creative 'graffiti' photo ^_^

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  8. this is wonderful and thank you for sharing it. really important things I am glad to know!!
    xoxo

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  9. Nice graffiti! it's your blog, you can post what you want:)

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  10. I agree, we should all be wary! Thanks for taking time to post the information and care.

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  11. Wonderful articles on bees! This is really a serious concern. Thanks for adding to the awareness of the plight of the honey bee....and its affect on human survival!!

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  12. the disapearance of the bees is a great problem. and more other, it is probably just the visible piece of the iceberg: they are many other pollen-kipper insects, but they probably have the same problems than bees. and it is less visible because we do not breed them.

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  13. Honey is a part of my daily life!!! I always have a 5 lb jar on hand. Recently our public library invited a local beekeeper to give a "talk" on the importance of saving the honeybees. And of course, we all left with a jar of honey. Buckwheat honey is great for a sore throat. You can even put honey on a minor scrape or cut, and it will heal almost instantly. Yes, sticky it is, but I have tried it. It works. The honeybee is truly an amazing creature. Very smart! Seek out a local beekeeper and ask for more information. Locally, we are fortunate to have many honeybee farms from which to buy from the roadside stand or farmer's market. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HONEYBEE FARMER! THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! And if you want to contact one of my locals, just send me an email and I'll give you info.

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  14. What a great image and such an important message ~ bees are such a vital part of our environment. Thank you for your recent visit to my blog and your lovely comment!

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  15. I am your newest follower. I found you on hula-la's blog. What a great post! Looking forward to more...
    Rachel

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