Help the Honey Bees

I recently heard about the problem we're having with honey bees. This is not just a local problem, but a dilemma that reaches to all corners of the earth. Did you know that one third of the food that we as Americans eat can be directly linked to honey bees? Ok, I'm not trying to get up on my soapbox and preach to you all about some tree-hugging hippy cause that no one cares about. This is actually a very serious problem. Can you imagine what would happen if there were no more honey bees?

No more honey bees would mean no more fresh produce like pears, cherries, tomatoes, cucumbers. No pumpkins for Halloween. No almonds or other nuts. Why what would our neighborhood squirrels eat? According to the San Francisco Chronical, honey bees are "responsible for $15 billion in agricultural crops each year." This number might be a lot closer to double that according to a more recent article by the same news source. That's a lot of money, people! And without the honey bee, that's a lot of people out of work, too! With an already increasing unemployment rate, this is cause for great concern.

Another cause for concern- prices of the goods we desire will continue to rise. As the value of the almighty U.S. dollar continues to deflate, the price of goods is already on its way up. Add to that the shortage of fruits and vegetables, and we are headed for some painful grocery shopping excursions. Don't think that this will only effect the cost of fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Oh, no. What is it that you think they make frozen, dried, dehydrated, less nutritional versions of these foods from? That's right, you have to have the real thing in it's purest form before you can start altering that which God created.

Help out by planting some flowers and avoiding pesticides and herbicides. Just a few plants can make a big difference.