The Bee's Needs and the Role of Regenerative Farming

Well maybe bees don't have proper knees. Maybe that is just a phrase coined years ago. But they do have needs. Needs that must be met to sustain both their lives and ours!

Why am I even talking about bees? The clover is in full bloom here at the farm. Bees love clover. This got me thinking about the bees and their needs.

A critical factor in declining bee populations

I am sure you have seen stories of declining or critical bee populations in recent years. There are many factors that contribute to this: some with more truth than others. 

One thing we know is that bees are highly sensitive to environmental quality and diversity as well as the chemical sprays used in conventional farming. 

The basic needs of bees and the impact of farming

For a bee to be healthy and build the honey and pollen stores it needs to survive the winter, she needs a couple simple things. She needs:

• Unfettered access to flowers and pollen from spring thaw to winter's freeze. 
• Flowers clean and free from pesticides and other chemicals. 

What is the key to these basic life needs? Biodiversity. 

On our farm we have multiple varieties of clover, grasses, trees and other flowers. This means something is flowering at any given time of the year. This is intentional. We also do not use any industrial chemicals. 

As a result, our farm is a bee sanctuary. This is a result of farming with regenerative and sustainable practices: understanding plant life cycles, rotating animals and refusing to till.

If we tilled and sprayed our fields, cut every tree that got in our way and planted monocultures of corn, soybeans, or alfalfa — the bees would get to feast. For a week. Then what? 

Bees can just fly over my farm and find somewhere else, right? After all, they fly quite a distance in search of food. The problem is many times they can't. If everyone is obliterating life in search of higher yields on their crops, bees die. 

When bees die, crops and other plants fail. Grazing animals suffer. And, ultimately, human life is affected.

And what about all the other life forms I would kill with a plow and sprays? Bees are only one of the millions of lifeforms affected by the same practices. Bees declining is a big enough problem. Duplicate this across butterflies and bacteria, earthworms and dung beetles, and we have a massive issue.

The tangible solutions providing hope

But we have hope because there are real tangible solutions being implemented. These problems are reversible! Not only are they reversible but they are being reversed. 

This is in our hands. In the hands of the farmers and the consumers. It is a fight we have to fight together.

Regenerative agriculture is growing. But without consumers that understand what they eat has a real effect on the future, the farmers that want to make a difference will have no market. 

You can help by buying from farms that are making a difference. And sharing these farms with those you know. As the number of educated consumers grows, more and more farmers will take note. Where there is demand, supply will grow. Sometimes slow and unsteady but so much better than the alternative. 

Find a farmer that fits your needs and knows what the bees need. When your needs and the bee's needs are met, could that especially excellent situation be described as "the bee's knees"?

Leave a comment and let me know!