My trail to Central Minnesota for the Fall 2016 started with the bees…gaining a grant to write about beekeeping, which snowballed into the slippery slope of advocating for The City of ABQ protection of pollinator’s, and finally the gritty work of starting a Pollinator education organization which works with youth in the South Valley this past Summer. […]

via It’s like this… — thinklikeabee

My trail to Central Minnesota for the Fall 2016 started with the bees…gaining a grant to write about beekeeping, which snowballed into the slippery slope of advocating for The City of ABQ protection of pollinator’s, and finally the gritty work of starting a Pollinator education organization that works with youth in the South Valley this past Summer. Whew. It’s nice to have some time to slow down and reflect on what’s next.

To see more about the final result of Burque Bee City USA, See Facebook page, Think Like A Bee  KOAT t.v.’s coverage …

And the bees have now accompanied me through the prairies to my home here for a Writing Residency. I am grateful for their presence all along my route.

Traveling through the prairies reminded me from whence my people have sprung. My heart is full of many fond memories of visiting family in Iowa and Kansas as a child. My Aunt Belle lives there now in Hesston, Kansas. We had a special time to reconnect. She has always been the Aunt that I am told I am “most like”.  So nice to look into a mirror and see whom I might be in 30 years! A graceful presence “just like” Belle, hopefully.
Here in the disappearing prairie lands, Mennonites have carved out a small oasis here in Hesston, one of my most favorite places in the world to visit—Dyck Arboretum. Many hearts and hands have taken great care to preserve the native grasses, thick pollinator and creaturely habitat corridors that once were the majestic grasslands where the buffalo roamed. Here in the middle of Turtle Island is the homeland of the Iowa, Missouri, Kansa and Osage nations.

I usually love nature preserves hands down. But the thing that makes this particularly special is the interaction of human reflection with the land itself. In the best of all worlds, this is whom we can become—the reflective voice, eyes and ears of the earth community’s Intelligence, of which we are only one part. We can become those who honor and reverence and care for our piece of land, water and air wherever we live and pass this along to our children to do the same.

May we no longer war with nature’s beautiful design.
May we find our own healing in aligning with Her wisdom.

May we walk tall alongside those who are protectors of all things wild.

Today, even as I grieve the fact that the last vestiges of our family farm, my ancestral roots in North East Ohio, have been put up for sale today, I read the news from Standing Rock in North Dakota. Many peoples are coming together on Mother Earth to courageously and peacefully stand on the front lines for their homeland that was violently torn from them centuries ago. My weeping is only a brief shadow of what the Indigenous people of this land have suffered at the hands of of the hordes of European settlers for centuries.

I have arrived to live in Western Minnesota this Fall for a Writing Residency in what was once the vast basin, the home of the Plains Indians. Stretching across the belly of this country, it included the Blackfoot, Arapaho, Assiniboine, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Lipan, Cree, Ojibwe, Sarsi, Stoney and Tonkawa, as well as the Oceti Sakowin—Dakota, Lakota and Nakota Sioux nations. Today many tribes are converging in a peaceful resistance to face down the Dakota Access pipeline. This bogus project, which begins at the Bakken oilfields of western North Dakota will bring crude oil through fragile lands, watersheds, Native sacred sites and wildlife homes across the midwest.  The Texas based pipeline company has co-opted the name Dakota, which means “friend” or “ally” to the Native people.

The First Nations people understand the Earth as a living, breathing being. They are coming from the four directions as the peaceful warriors on behalf of the silent and most vulnerable——our precious land, water and air and creatures.

I continue to puzzle that the least of these, those whom the European colonizers have marginalized and made most vulnerable among us, the Indigenous people of this continent, are the ones putting their lives and physical bodies on the line for something that all of us need to be about. Our dominant culture has lost it’s way.  Mainstream North America has become entranced by a way of life that is killing the earth. We can no longer see what is real. Gasoline is cheaper than water. It is destroying that which gives life. Even as I hear the news of Standing Rock, many friends send me the latest of the “least of these”, the bees. Killed in massive Zika spraying projects in the East and South.

This morning at the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the priest reminded us that God always resides in the most vulnerable among us. Secretly weaving new life in places where we least expect it. Our work is to wake up and cooperate with the Sacred Dance of life happening in our time.

I come from European immigrants who have settled and colonized this land in the name of the Doctrine of Discovery and a Manifest Destiny. Today I stand with the First Nations of this country. My heart is with  Iyuskin American Horse of the Rosebud Sioux who spent more than six hours attached to a pipeline digger in Mandan, North Dakota. I stand with the elders, the men and women, arrested to protest the $3.8 billion pipeline which will be used to export dirty oil, rather than create a clean energy future in this country.

I come as one whose ancestral lands belonged to the Shawnee, Delaware, Miami and Ottawa, Wyandotte and Mingo. As I release my hold on the land of my birth, I remember those whom it rightfully belonged to and I stand  now in solidarity.  It is time for people of all races, creeds, religions and backgrounds to come together to preserve Mother Earth, our lifeline. Our future is inextricably linked to all of life itself—the entire community of beings, creature, human, plant, water, land, air. Only when we learn this will we live in peace.

For all we have disrupted and polluted. For all that has been lost. For all that is yet to be lost. I pray for courage to face these times together. That our colonial minds be awakened and sovereignty be restored to all lands and peoples, that spiritual leadership arise. For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see...here is a call to action. Find a way to support the people gathering.

May it be so.

Straight out of a Survivor episode, the past few days my girls have been industriously throwing out bee embryos. At first I panicked. Then as I read more about the possible causes of dead white embryos all around the entrance, I realized that they were thinking ahead and most likely exercising bee wisdom.

Last I checked that hive they had almost a whole honeycomb of drone brood, which both surprised and alarmed me. Drone brood is usually present when:
A) the hive is crowded and ready to swarm

B) the queen needs to be replaced.

Since Fall is imminent and I am leaving town, I placed the drone comb near the back of the hive and hoped that they girls would forget about the guys. It’s never a good sign to find drone brood, especially as winter approaches.

Well, evidently they didn’t forget about them, they threw them out of their developing nests. To reduce mouths to feed as winter approaches and temperatures plummet at night and nectar is at a premium, the girls took things into their own hands.

Sadly, the drones had arms flailing as though they tried to resist in their half formed state, but to no avail.
It was eerie.

Nature has a cruel streak. Survival of the fittest.

Somehow it seems like an apt metaphor for our political culture these days. It seems that this country has turned to a survivalist mode. We are ready to oust people of color, people of other languages, cultures, religions and lack of the proper documents from our shores—it doesn’t matter that they do the lowliest service jobs that people in this country won’t touch. It doesn’t matter that most people at our doorstep are here because of U.S. wars abroad and trade policies that have devastated their country’s economies. No kidding.

Certain segments of our culture are turning to nationalism and a rising white supremacy to ensure that those who feel threatened become powerful again.

The fact that when the most vulnerable are lifted up, all of us are lifted up, seems to be lost on a society hungry to be “great again”. Quite frankly, it’s the ones who are most threatened that probably feel the most vulnerable.

As humans, we can do better than this. Being great again means making sure everyone has a job, eats, is raised out of poverty and has a fair chance to be educated. It means that gun violence is eradicated so elementary children don’t die when they go to school one day. It means linking our independence to interdependence—with the natural world around us and all the peoples of the world who are no different than citizens of this country in our hopes and dreams.

The bees will downsize with a policy that may lead to their survival as a hive, but it will not ensure that all survive.

As humans, we can do better. This time, I say let’s “think better than a bee”.

This little fashionista bee, which was also yummy by the way (thank you Jessie!), represents my feelings exactly. After a stunningly easy pass through of the Burque Bee City USA Resolution (“it was a love fest” as my friend Lynne so aptly put it), we are on our way. Likely the harder work lies ahead, of where the rubber actually  meets the road…even as I write this, I am aware of communities and Beekeepers in Albuquerque who are seeking to work with City officials, to ensure that the public space around them isn’t devastating their pollinator habitat and bee communities. We will all need to continue to be vigilant about habitat and chemicals going forward.

The other news that hit while I was in the throes of City Council and Bee City was the report from the New Mexico Dept. of Agriculture and New Mexico State University Entymology researchers. After examining my fallout of dead bees and a sample of comb, they determined that their were no neonicitinoids involved.

When I sampled that very hive for varroa mites, I was pleased to find that they did not test positive for mites either.

It’s a mystery. Hallelujah. That’s all I have to say about that.

In 10 short days I will be driving to Minnesota for a change of seasons and a Writing Fellowship/Residency Fall 2016.

My girls will be put to bed before I leave. It’s been a good season for honey, for learning, for a full return to health in all my backyard hives. I entrust them to Providence and will see them in the New Year!

Stay tuned for all the bee news that’s fit to print from Minnesota….

BURQUE BEE CITY is a reality! Over a year later, after a rather amazing cast of volunteers called on City Councilors,  spoke at Neighborhood Coalition meetings, tabled at public markets, talked with nurseries, we finally have a Resolution in place that is law. It not only raises awareness about pollinators, but opens the door for ongoing collaboration between our beekeeper associations and the city ——for increased and diverse bee habitat, reduced or pesticide free zones, bee designation signs and ongoing education and advocacy.

This is only the bee-ginning!

We are especially  grateful to the two offices that sponsored this—Winters and Benton and their hardworking staff, Rebekkah Burt and Diane Dolan.

Councilor Benton thanked the bee community for all their work on behalf of pollinators. It was notable that Councilor Winters had no idea the bee community was so active and strong! It was fun to hear President Lewis say he wished he’d co-sponsored the bill, such bi-partisan support it enjoyed. It was a nice surprise to hear Councilor Trudy Jones say she had planted pollinator habitat in her yard, after our visit with her office.

So to all of you  who took the time to come out to City Council tonight(see photo above), who sent us good wishes, who spent countless hours volunteering, who will continue to care for your own bees, who are dedicated to planting gardens for all pollinator’s, THANK YOU!

This is a triumph for all of us in the bee community, for pollinator’s everywhere and for the Big Burque!

It’s harvest time.. I’ve been awaiting this and dreading it for a few months now, knowing that processing honey without a machine is going to be, well, let’s just say time-consuming and sticky.

But I am feeling a little bit giddy now that I’ve actually done the deed—pulling out about 8 bars of honey from my girls. Thick as Amber molasses and gooey as taffy, I can already taste it melting in my mouth. My bees don’t make light, floral tasting honey. They go for a thick texture and a ripe, raw earthy taste.

I’ve crushed it and now it is just dripping like liquid gold into a big bucket. It will sit like that for a few days, interspersed with some more smooshing down of the wax until it is all squeezed out and melted into the big white bucket.

Meanwhile, if you are near, come on down to the City Council on Monday, August 15, 5pm and support bees and all pollinator’s as we bring the Bee City USA Resolution to the floor to protect pollinator’s in our fair city. Wear white to stand with the Beekeepers.

If you are far away, light a candle and remember us with good thoughts.

Meanwhile, thank you for all your care for birds, bees, bats and anything pollinator!

Due to popular demand, we will keep up our swarmfunding site,  Deposit a Gift until after our Resolution passes…just in case you haven’t had the chance to contribute to ThinkLikeABee’s work!

 

I just got off the phone with the New Mexico Department of Ag. They will be sending me a bee researcher tomorrow to take a sample of my dying bees.

It started about a week ago and it is still going on day by day. Very distressing to watch. Piles of them outside the hive, falling and twitching or doing head spins, their nervous systems shutting down before they died on the hot cement. I cannot say for certain if it is a neonic0tinoid poisoning. Imidacloprid  is the strongest suspect—the most prevalent neonicotinoid ingredient in over the counter bug sprays for backyard enthusiasts these days. It comes packaged by Bayer, Syngenta, DowCorning. This is a bug neurotoxin, destroying the nervous system of any insect. It has been shown to cause memory, orientation and nervous system problems, as well as reproductive decline. Dr. James Nieh, professor of biology at U.C. San Diego has studied the effects on humans. Parkinsonian symptoms and dementia.  It’s all cumulative in our ecosystem.

I hope our Bee City USA resolution at Albuquerque’s City Council meeting on August 15, 5pm will only draw more attention to the plight of honeybees and all insects and mammals impacted by this deadly class of insecticides. All of us as a human family need to begin to examine the things we do to the earth we live upon. I just read today that pesticides have increased over 30% in the last 50 years according to David Pimental, Biologist at Harvard U. Today we are looking at 3.5 pounds of pesticides per person. Likely it’s disproportionately distributed in poorer neighborhoods. But we all breathe the same air and eat the food that’s grown in the soil, with the same water.

I encourage any of you to come to the City Council Chambers downtown at the Civic Plaza City Hall, basement floor, 5pm August 15 to raise your voices in support of bees!  WEAR A WHITE SHIRT or your white beekeeping suit if you are a Beekeeper.  This will make the bee supporters in the room very noticeable.

I hope to see you there!

 

 

 

It was an experiment. One friend called it “swarmfunding” rather than crowdfunding. I like that. My goal was to see what happened. As of today, we have “swarmgathered” over $2,000!  That is a grand success for this first time.

Thank you one and all for contributing. I am grateful for every single contribution, knowing that each and every dollar was given out of generosity, kindness and on behalf of a healthy future for our planet.

As in the bee world, there is no such thing as a menial contribution to the hive. All are absolutely of worth and necessary in the hive —despite the  division of labor. Whether a nurse bee, janitor, mortician, architect comb builder, honey storer, guard bee and finally, a nectar/pollen gathering field bee, all roles will bring about the health and common good for the colony.

I see the beehive as a small microcosm of a Utopia—especially in the world of so many dystopia novels and Hollywood films. In a swarmfunding kind of world, everyone gives what they can to make the world a better place. I hope I can live up to this. In the hive there is no “me first”, or narcissistic personalities. The bees don’t have time for such nonsense. It would mean certain suicide for the hive and it would fall into anarchy and destruction.

I find, in my journeys these days, that for all the narcissists, there are 10, 100, maybe 10,000 ordinary people going about their splendid lives— creating, serving, loving, not seeking attention or approval. Their reward is in the doing, whether for those they love or simply because of a deep meaning and satisfaction in the good work they are about in the world.

It gives me hope.

So thank you all for your support and vote of confidence in the bees and the work of Think Like A Bee. Every bit counts.

Think Like A Bee “swarmfunding’ will be coming to a close July 31.  Deposit a gift here to enter a “bee basket” grand prize drawing July 31. We are a tax exempt organization committed to advocacy and education.

 

The world is a violent place. And it is a wondrous place. Still. We live in this tension daily and the challenge is how we respond to suffering and still give daily thanks for such an amazingly graced place to call home.

This past weekend we were in Crestone, truly a village. A population of 127 in southwest Colorado—a post mining region. The mosquitos were out en masse and the jokes in the local paper said that if you weren’t paying attention, you could be borne away on a cloud of these bloodthirsty suckers. Tall tales abounded about the mosquito invasion. They weren’t kidding. It was serious. One didn’t leave home unarmed with DEET, which I abhor applying to my body. The sweet smell, masking the poison, never fails to turn my stomach.

Three days later we are visiting the Oriental Land Trust, on our way up the steep incline to the caved-in iron ore mine turned bat sanctuary. Here 250,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats migrate every summer. The locals say they can watch the mosquitos reduce before their very eyes. They can tell whether the bats have migrated to full capacity  by the mosquitos or lack there of. After 60% of them have returned the mosquitos and a bugginess in general has receded noticeably. At 100%, humans and animals can take back the night, free of these tiny beasts. It was remarkable to me that this cave—one mountain over from Crestone, could be so clear and free. Like a de-mined swath of land, human and creature alike could return to a semblance of sanity and normalcy. And this bat cave was adjacent to a warm spring where lots of skin was showing all summer long!
Some remarkable factoids that I learned about bats which I already have a bias of fascination for, along with all pollinators, was that a colony of a quarter of a million can consume a Hummer vehicle worth of 2-3 tons of airborne pests a night. They can fly as far as 50 miles in pursuit of bugs and up to 10,000 feet. They navigate completely by echo detection or sonar. Every night around 8:55pm they leave their cave. This group is a bachelor pad, all males.

Click here to watch their flight and learn about them
As the bats soared out like a bat river at precisely 5 minutes til the hour, it was beyond amazing to stand in this batwind. A silent explosion of wings and tiny papery black bodies into the night. It went on for an eternity, continuing even as they were no longer visible to the naked eye. Watch out StellaLuna, here comes your tribe!

As we gingerly hike back down the steep grade, our headlamps glowing, I am grateful for the invisible, silent shield of bats that have our backs in the valley, and all over this planet. A nontoxic pest solution. Better than a fleet of low flying airplanes or trucks spraying cancer causing chemicals.

Sadly, like bees, bats are in trouble. For them it’s the fungal white nose scourge, killing them. Like bees they create an invisible forecefield of health around us—whether pest control or pollination —-unnoticed until they are in trouble. Unfortunately we still eradicate bats and bees like “pests” rather than building a bat house and putting out the welcome mat. We’d rather poison ourselves as humans than deal with the “mess” of living with such brilliant creature in our midst. And I have to admit,that bat bachelor pad was emitting some stinky guano smells.No housekeeper there.

May we all become fascinated before it’s too late, and safeguard all pollinator’s habitat and these tiny but mightily important lives. Besides, they are quite adorable don’t you think?

One more week to support this “swarmfunding’ work of Think Like A Bee for the Month of July! Deposit a gift here to enter a “bee basket” grand prize drawing July 31. We are a tax exempt organization committed to advocacy and education.