Letters to the Editor
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Organic Gardening Magazine
sounded this alarm almost 20 years ago. I live inside the Beltway in Northern Virginia, and I've been gardening here for 19 years. Three years into my home garden, I noticed a precipitous drop in the number of bees, lady bugs, and beneficial predators in my garden. I took several steps that have lead to a recovery in their number.
I use no chemicals - not even so-called beneficials. (They always kill something in the food chain.) I am primarily a vegetable gardener, but I plant a variety of herbs (the bees LOVE the herb blossoms) and early blooming plants to give the beneficials something to feed on. I have three enormous bee balm plants that, in season, are always covered with bees. (And no, I have never been stung by a bee. A well-fed lion is a happy lion...)I work hard to keep a healthy garden: Good soil and a variety of plants are key.
It isn't just sad that the bees are going missing: It is a threat to our food supply. Those of you who don't garden can help by not using chemical lawn services, and by purchasing organic honey directly from beekeepers at your local farmer's market. And plant something for the beneficials to eat.