Guest Blogger and Photo by Loretta Strharsky
One of the lead articles in the Guardian this morning concerns the decline in bumblebees. We’ve known that. We have said to ourselves, “I haven’t seen many bees in the garden, or on the flowers during our walks.” But the scientific studies relating global warming and species decline have made it all the more imperative to be concerned and to act to change the trajectory of this decline.
It is up to us to assist our bees in survival. I need to read the studies at Colorado State University so I know how to make our yard environmentally bee-friendly here in northern Colorado, where hot summer days span not only July, but encompass all of August and the changing winter has given us often gives us 70 degree days in December and January (and dramatic blizzards now in February).
What are the native species of vegetation that welcome bees and bugs and other creepy crawlies? What soil do these plants need? There must be many more questions. I’m sure some of the nurseries have suggestions. Some of my friends have a xeriscape yard. What have they learned? What can they teach me? And will I get chastised by neighbors for letting the dandelions grow? And how do I get friends and neighbors on board?
Professor Jeremy Kerr who is a major author in this research sited in this article below says, “Ultimately, we must address climate change itself and every action we take to reduce emissions will help.”
We must all be pollinators.