This is a reminder to concern yourself with important things that really matter.
This is a honey bee on an early dandelion. The yellow on her knees is pollen and she's collecting necter from the dandelion.
How is this important?
It's early spring.
The dandelion wasn't from a treated lawn or a gmo plant.
The bee didn't have to worry about bug spray.
The bee and her sisters survived through the winter.
Gmo plants reduce bees lifespan by 2 days & the food for the hives.
Be kind.
@mcfate
My information is from bee keepers who manage them for their farms - both locally, & the states where I've lived.
Bees depend on biodiversity for their survival - including wild flowers & weeds.
Gmo plants which contain weed resistant tendency offer only a brief window of food source for honeybees while they pollinate the crops.
Gmo plants are designed for larger fruit size to be produced (quality) but not always quantity.
Equals starvation of the hive.
@KathMcGill Yes, the big picture here is that whatever is going on in the natural world will ultimately have far more importance to us than whatever nuttiness we humans come up with. I look forward to the day that our politicians realize this and act accordingly.
That said, all the bees in my ecosystem are Africanized bees. They could sting me but they totally ignore me because they are so captivated by all the pollen on my sunflower blossoms.
@KathMcGill Here's one of my sunflowers and some Africanized bees enjoying the pollen.
@KathMcGill
The only paper I turned up on this doesn't support the claim about the lifespans of bees, seemingly.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8247894/