Bee very afraid

The bees are disappearing from our lives. A whole chorus of bee sting survivors is shouting "Hooray! Good riddance!" But it's not that simple, honey.

Think of them as tiny little miners' canaries wearing striped jumpsuits. Not only are they lying feet-up, backs to the newspaper, whole hives are disappearing altogether. Before you shrug your shoulders and reach for the Splenda, think about how much of our food comes from plants or trees that depend on pollination by bees. No bees=no fruit, no coffee, no chocolate, no wine... It's leak, and land, without the ees.

It's a mystery. A scary one. No one is sure what happens to the disappeared bees, but a group of scientists is beginning to suspect cell phones. As sonar to whales and dolphins, so cell phones to bees: disorientation and death. If cell phones are the problem, goodness knows I'm part of it. Most of us are. I imagine Americans will be even less willing to reduce their cell phone use than they are are to reduce their driving. Then it's "So long, see ya, wouldn't wanna bee ya..."

Until then, we're hoping to create a bee sanctuary here at the ranch by planting more bee-licious, bee-lovely bee-tanicals. The bees love the bottle-brush hedge (as do the hummingbirds and other pollinators-click on the picture to see it full size, I'm kinda proud of it!). Berkeley hosts a buzzworthy site about developing urban bee gardens. Let's keep that fruit, coffee, chocolate, and wine coming! Oh, and honey, too.