Sweeter than honey

I hate to be the bearer of bad news... but our nurseries will NOT get you any honey. Better visit the farmer's market if that’s what you’re after. But while you're here... Why aren't we interested in honeybees, anyway?

​Let's be clear about one thing: I love honeybees. I love honey. Without it, I wouldn't be able to make salted honey pie and that's just not ok. But are honeybees really the pollinating super-insects they're cracked up to be? Not really. Not here in North America anyway, where honeybees are not only not native, they could even be considered invasive (here's a fantastic article detailing this).  Using honeybees to pollinate agricultural crops comes with a host of problems including the inevitable spread of disease that happens when you cart bees over hundreds and hundreds of miles. Plus, honeybees can compete with native bees for pollen: we already know that honeybees can be quite aggressive, and native bees are decidedly not. That's where the "invasive" part comes in. Plus, all this talk about pollinators going extinct? Not really true for honeybees. In fact, they're doing just fine compared with the thousands of at-risk pollinator species all over the globe.

The fact is, native bees are much more deserving of our help right now. Habitat loss, worldwide pesticide use, and irresponsible agricultural practices are having devastating effects. And what a shame, because species such as mason bees and bumblebees are way better at pollinating our plants. They use nifty tricks such as vibrating on the flowers to get all the pollen to fall out, and they carry pollen all over their bodies instead on two measly leg-sacks (looking at you, honeybees). Simply put, they're way more efficient, and they are superbly equipped for pollinating many of the crops we depend on. Do you like blueberries and apples and almonds? Thank mason bees for their hard work. Do you enjoy eating beef? Good job leaf-cutter bees! Without you, dear Megachilidae​, we wouldn't have the alfalfa to feed our livestock.

So do we still like honeybees? Sure. But there's more important work to be done right now. So go plant a flower or two, put off mowing another day, and tell your neighbor to stop spraying their peach trees. When you're done with that, treat yourself to some great food: perhaps some Ratatouille full of tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash and peppers; a crisp cucumber and onion side salad; and juicy strawberry shortcake for dessert. And then thank native bees, who made that meal possible. Pretty sweet, huh?