The bees are dying and your ice cream is about to cost a lot more… and be far more limited in variety.  That’s according to Haagen Daz and CNN.

Colony Collapse Disorder.

It’s the beginning of our demise, starting with your favorite summer treat.

Paul Joseph Watson says that by not saving the bees more quickly, we are headed toward full blown Ecological Apocalypse.  In fact, Watson says humanity will perish much faster from the demise of the honeybee than from the much-hyped and documentarized man-made global warming.

Who am I to say he’s wrong?  With CCD claiming bees to the extent that it is, greenery may become a thing of the past within our lifetime… meaning the end of all life essentially.

But also, who’s to say this isn’t another distorted scenario?  I frankly don’t know, but I can say that most people I know are sick of reacting to fear-mongering in media.

Another argument I’m hearing: “organic bees” are the answer.  From what I gathered, “organic bees” means they themselves are not sprayed with pesticide (varroa mites), given antibiotics or fed synthetic sugars and pollens.

Kudos to farmers relying on bees to do what they do best and how they do it best.  Just like factory farming, by pushing the limits of nature, we only destroy that nature in time ~ but they try anyhow because they seek that mythological money tree.

With this, though, I have a warning regarding economic adulteration.  Don’t fall for “organic honey”.  Honeybees travel for miles and miles in the course of a day, grabbing pollen and nectar to produce their honey and maintain their hive.  The odds of a farmer being able to guarantee and prove that those bees visited only organic plants… slim.

Also beware of “natural” or “raw” honey.  I mean, if it cost the same as another local honey not using those words, whatever, but all honey is “natural” and most fall into the category of “raw”.  A number of groups use these hollow buzzwords, however, to jack the price up 50% or more.  I’ll get more into all of that later, so I digress.  Just don’t fall victim.

Back to my point, we all seem to get too quickly hung on one aspect of a situation (one certain reason that in honesty is only a possibility, or the possible result to a possible extreme).  And usually, that situation is a very sticky complex situation…

Overall I have to say, Watson is right.  CCD needs a solution, and in a hurry.

Perhaps the only time we have, however, should be spent making changes to see if they work rather than continuing the parasite prevention, antibiotic drugging and corn syrup feeding for the bees.

Back to basics… that’s food for thought.

Spiders, enemy or ally, strike such an emotional~ and frankly, completely irrational~ response from people (I know.  A few years back, I was one of those people).  The truth is, spiders are an asset to most anyone interested in a healthier environment.

For the record, spiders are a great ally to us humans.  Granted, that’s unless they bite you, then I’m sure you feel a little differently.  But remember, spiders don’t come looking for the tantalizing taste of fresh human meat, so if you get bit, that spider felt trapped.  And no, I’ve yet to wake up with a giant one on my face, and yes, that would scare me.  But remember Charlotte?  And Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends?  And Ms. Spider on the Giant Peach?

Here in NC, the only justified fear we may have is of the notorious Black Widow.  Believe it or not, in my (almost) 28 years, I’ve yet to meet a Black Widow face-to-face.

Brown recluse shmown recluse.  Though you may encounter a brown recluse in NC, the odds are slim, as they are only common in the mid-west (see this from the NC Cooperative Extension).  We are not mid-west, in case you haven’t seen a map in a while.  We are mid-Atlantic.

Just like my honeybees unfairly getting so much flak for all of people’s wasps grievances, perfectly ordinary and happy spiders get a tremendously bad reputation~ and all merely by being brown.  Many many NC spiders are brown… only one out of many thousands are a recluse.

Check out this, by Arwin, who points out:

Myth: Spiders in the home are a danger to children and pets.

Fact: House spiders prey on insects and other small creatures. They are not bloodsuckers, and have no reason to bite a human or any other animal too large for them to eat. In any interaction between spiders and larger creatures like humans, the spiders are almost always the ones to suffer.

For the North Carolina gardener, however, spiders are the single best and most natural pesticide.  Spiders don’t eat your plants… they eat those nasty mites that come to destroy your plants!  In fact, the day you till your garden and you don’t see spiders (and ladybugs), you can rest assured you do not have a healthy environment~ and that whatever has run off signs of creatures is also destroying the insides of your plants (warning~ don’t consume pesticide-washed produce, even from your own garden).  Howard Lyman has a lot of great insight on this in his book.

As for those spiders hanging around the awnings of your house or near your gutters?  Those guys certainly aren’t hurting you.  They’re enjoying the view from the home they’ve built, and all while they munch on the pesky little insects (mosquitos and flies, for instance) that are so desperate to come into your home when you open your door!

I always get a remembrance from James and the Giant Peach (or something like that) when I think of people’s irrational, unbiased and unfair hatred of spiders, where the spider says he saw his eight-legged aunt get painted to a ceiling because the homeowner hated spiders… She didn’t die, but she was stuck there for the rest of her days, and the spider family came frequently to bring her food and spend time with her.  The spider said it always hurt him how people so misunderstood and feared his kind.  It always broke my heart~ I’m such a sap sometimes!

Maybe think twice before you smoosh that spider next time.  I usually grab a cup and posterboard-typed paper, catch it, and return it outside.  They’ll get more food outside anyhow~ AND save me from as many bird-flu carrying mosquitos (wink).

In case you hadn’t heard, honeybee colonies are dropping dead (or missing) because of some mysterious and international culprit. Rob Kanter from the Environmental Almanac explains…

…this past year has marked a dramatic turn for the worse. Beginning last winter, a phenomenon that came to be called “Colony Collapse Disorder,” or CCD, has led to steep losses of managed bees in more than 20 states…

which we can all agree is a huge problem.

Not a problem, you say? You don’t care? What?

Even if you are not a fan of honey itself, much less bees, let’s consider a few facts that may help you end your bee-based prejudices. I personally think you are mixing honeybees with wasps, who are very different creatures.

Our beloved honeybees are the lovely creatures with fuzzy, bubbly little bodies who pollinate flowers for our immaculately landscaped yards. They more importantly pollinate trees and vines for the very foods we love to eat (try eating strawberries, apples, squash, watermelons… or any other fruit or veggie without honey bee colonies!).

For the record, the wasp family (including hornets) are more sting-happy, with overly segmented bodies and an easily aggrevated personality. A hundred other differences exist, but you can study that on your own. Anyhow, I am not a fan of wasp relatives.

Honeybees, on the contrary, are truly only sting-happy when their territory (or life) is endangered. That bee that stung your foot in the 2nd Grade was only protecting himself! Sadly, sweet little honeybees are often victim themselves to the cruel antics of the wasp family. But that’s another story.

So why am I lecturing you briefly about honeybees on a “green” blog?

When something is going obviously wrong in our ecosystem, we must ask: why are the honeybees in such turmoil?

Are they plagued by a virus? Mites? Cellphones? Or is this further degradation of our environment and ecosystems due to pesticide use ~ aka “protecting” our crops from plant-eating insects by permeating our own fruits and vegetables with toxins that may pollute the bodies of innocent consumers (honeybees and perhaps even humans)?

The mysterious loss of these bees is major cause for alarm. As Michael Graham Richard explains,

We must reconsider our approach to agriculture fast before more irreparable damage is caused. Brute force doesn’t work for long; what farmers consider “pests” are killed along with nature’s most useful workers, but the poison doesn’t disappear after doing that, it stays in the food chain for a long time.

Alongside pesticide concerns, Gina Covina says in this post (along with discussing a variety of other honeybee enemies):

Everyone agrees the honeybee buzzed into the 21st century carrying a heavy load of stress. Colonies were weakened by mites, perhaps by chemicals used to kill the mites, and probably by at least some of the 25 different viruses carried by varroa mites. Add in a fungus, nosema, that’s tolerated by healthy bees but a problem for already weakened hives. Then there’s the stress of long-distance truck travel, longer distances for more bees every year…

Further, honey (a natural antibacterial and fat-free food) that is locally produced (as it should always be) will be in short supply, meaning an increase in imported honeys from South America or China. Imported honey equals an increase in burned non-renewable fuels, not to mention, more questions regarding what we are actually consuming.

Avoiding imported honey may also be a puzzle piece in solving the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) mystery. Commercial beekeepers increasingly move their bee colonies from state-to-state for large scale pollinations. This is known to stress the bees. Further, bees use their honey to feed themselves… but, in the name of commerce, many of the large-scale beekeepers are feeding their bees corn syrup instead.

Corn syrup? What? The exact ingredient we humans are told to avoid in order to stay healthy? I agree a Conspiracy Theory may play a deeper role here. Seriously, how does it make any sense to give stressed-out bee colonies processed sugars for their main nutrition? Then we have them pollinate genetically modified and pesticide-sprayed crops.

Yet we are baffled that something is tragically wrong in the honeybees’ world.

Regardless of how you feel, the flavor of local honey is always better. The cheap stuff you get in that bear-shaped plastic bottle at your chain-grocer is like substituting instant coffee for your morning joe (no offense if you drink instant). North Carolina-produced honeys are abundant if you pay attention (aka read labels), and they taste great.

I like Orange Blossom honey or Water Tupelo honey~ yum. Marc likes Sourwood honey (not sour at all). Get these at your local farmers market or Whole Foods, or at Harmony Farms if you live in Raleigh.

And in the process, you may be taking a step toward saving the bees (as well as all the crops you enjoy).