BY SANDRA GUY
It’s time to stop fearing bees — or at least gain a new appreciation for their life-affirming honey and other byproducts.
As climate change takes top priority, bees’ role in pollinating plants and crops grows ever more critical. Few of us learned in school the long-term repercussions of bees’ function.
In fact, bees pollinate almost 90 percent of the flowering plants and 70 percent of the world’s major crops, according to the Climate Institute, based in Washington, D.C., and considered the first non-governmental entity dedicated to addressing climate change.
Yet bees are vanishing. Your chances of seeing a bumblebee anywhere in North America is half that of 47 years ago. Why?
Climate change, excessive use of pesticides, and loss of habitat are among the top reasons.
The damage threatens to endanger nutritious crops such as nuts, fruits and vegetables and put an undue emphasis on high-carb foods such as rice, corn and potatoes.
Besides food, bees contribute to producing certain fibers, medicines, biofuels, construction materials and beeswax for candles. Farm animals get their forage because of bees.
The loss also would hurt the resin found inside beehives — called propolis — that comes from the sap on evergreens or other trees with needles. Bees combine the sap with beeswax and their own discharges to create the sticky propolis. They use propolis to coat their hives as they build them.
Propolis contains a compound called pinocembrin, a flavonoid that acts as an antifungal. These anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties make propolis helpful in wound healing. And, though research is scant, it’s believed that propolis may be helpful in speeding healing time and reduce symptoms in cold sores and sores from genital herpes.
Bees also are providing hope to underrepresented neighborhoods and people seeking to turn around their lives. Sweet Beginnings, LLC, a non-profit in Chicago that produces beelove, a line of honey-based products made by people who’ve served time in jail.
As one former inmate told the Chicago Sun-Times: “It was a good transition for me to see how handmade, natural products are made; it was a good experience for me because I learned a lot about myself being productive and having a job. I took all the advice they gave me and just applied it to my thinking so I can move forward.”
The honey, along with other products such as body lotion, shower gel, and lip balm are available online.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Everyone can take steps to give bees a welcome space. These can be as simple as leaving part of your lawn unmowed so bees can enjoy the clover and dandelions; and substitute bee-friendly products instead of using herbicides and pesticides.
And besides, empowering yourself and bees will feel beatific.