Everyone knows and loves the first signs of Spring. The daffodils and tulips are making their seasonal debuts. The blossoms are on the peach and apple trees. The strawberries are going wild. The white clover and dandelions are starting to show their familiar faces.
But did you realize that as bothersome as the dandelions and weeds are that are growing in your lawn, that these are some of the most important plants for bees to have access to for collecting pollen? Honeybees work hard all year and have to eat and survive off of their stored honey all winter long, except on the rare warm and sunny winter days when they can safely leave their hives.
Spring means the grass is growing. Which obviously means that the need to mow our lawns and fields returns. I’m sure if you go outside during the daytime, you’ll even hear or see at least one mower running nearby you on any given day. More mowed lawns means less flowering plants which in turn makes bees have to travel further and work harder to collect all the pollen that they will need to make their delicious, golden honey.
For example, during the month of May very few plants are blooming on our farm, except for the wildflowers, weeds and the ever pervasive dandelions, but in June the blackberries will be in blossom. This means that between May and June it is even more important to preserve those flowering plants as they are such a huge source of pollen for the bees.
So in an effort to let our honeybees flourish and give back to those creatures that work so hard for us, we will be participating in No Mow May! My ankles are already tickling from the 8” weeds growing in our orchard. It might not be the prettiest, but we here on Guiding Star Farm are on team honeybee, and not only will the bees benefit from our unsightly lawn, but also the butterflies and the local wild rabbit population too! There are entire ecosystems around us that rely on these animals if we can only take the time to stop and look. Let’s do our part by doing nothing and help save the bees!