YOU Can Save the Bees

A lot of people don't like bugs - or they even hate bugs. Part of that is probably due to obnoxious bugs like mosquitoes, but part of it, I think, is probably because they don't really know a lot about them, and don't really ever look at them to see how amazing they are. I have been trying for the last few years, with some success, to convince people that bugs are interesting, and beautiful, and wondrous, but some people just don't buy it. That's okay, I suppose - not everybody likes the same things. There are things that I hate that other people love. But here's the thing about bugs: you may not like them, but you need them. They play important roles in nature, doing things we don't even think about, like breaking down organic matter. Imagine if the leaves that fell from the trees never, ever disintegrated. We'd be buried under dead leaves. Insects help with the breakdown of the fallen leaves, which sends their nutrients back into the soil. The also help to break down other things that are considerably less desirable to have littering the world. I am not going to go into more detail on that, except to say that I am grateful for the existence of dung beetles. But there are bugs with a great deal more charm than dung beetles that play a more obviously vital-to-us role in the world, and that would be the pollinators. Without them, we would all starve to death. You'd think we would all be grateful for them, but at best most people don't think about them at all, and at worst humans are actively harming them. Bees, for instance, both native and domesticated, are in danger, largely due to human activities, including habitat destruction and the use of pesticides that are fatal for bees.

There is a young lady who has been working on a project to help protect bees, primarily by providing information for people on how to help them, and the threats that face them. She has a facebook page for her project, BeeAware, and if you are wondering what you can do to help save the bees and other pollinators, you should check it out. You might think that there is nothing you can do to help, but there is. And now you know where to start.

Yesterday was International Poetry Day, or something like that, I don't know if it was international, or just Poetry Day, or whatever. I didn't celebrate it because I don't like poetry, but I had a snippet of a poem in my mind today as I was doing my bug walk:

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree

That's all I know of the poem, and probably all most people know, even though it is a famous poem. At least, those two lines are famous. It is by Joyce Kilmer, which I only know because I just looked it up. I didn't know until now that Joyce Kilmer was a man. Anyway, notwithstanding the fact that I don't like poetry (except for Jabberwocky), I totally relate to those two lines of the poem (which is called Trees, in case you want to look it up. Not that you need to know that to look it up, you can just type those lines into a search engine and you will find it), and completely agree that trees are more lovely than poetry. Winter is not their most glorious season, but they start to look good in the spring - you just have to look closely at them to see that, because some of their spring glory is very subtle.

Like this:

There are signs of spring all around, but at this stage, you still have to look pretty hard for some of them.

I think this is Canada mayflower. So it won't be blooming for about a month and a half.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I found this wasp sunning itself on the side of the house before I even went on my bug walk. I had gone out to get the mail, and had to go in to get my camera. The great thing about cold days is that the bugs are more willing to sit still and wait for me to do that.

Random Bugs:

 Pretty, little moth on the chaise...

 Another shot that shows the detail better on the edge of its wing. I would love to have seen its wings open.

 Another moth, blending in much better. I saw it flutter past me and land, and even so wasn't sure until I looked close (and poked it with my finger, which made it move) that it was a moth and not a piece of dried leaf. It was pretty windy today, and there were a lot of things blowing around.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Not a spider, but a daddy-long-legs. A very small one, with not-so-long legs.