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Bees Matter Honey Bee

If You Love Food, You Should Thank A Honey Bee

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A few weeks ago, I talked about why bees are more important than we think and now I’m going to talk a little bit about just how much of the food we eat is pollinated by honey bees. I just want to pre-warn you that it is a lot more food than I could have imagined when I started doing the research.

Before we get to that list, let’s talk about what you can do to make sure that the honey bee population continues to live productive lives. The good news is that despite what you may have heard, there is no decline in the population of the honey bee in Canada. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, their population is at an all-time high! That said, it is still up to us to help them thrive and we can do so by planting pollinator-friendly gardens. Check out this short YouTube video which describes the life cycle of a honey bee.

How To Get Your Free Seed Kit!

The Bees Matter ‘Buzzing Gardens’ program allows you to order a free seed kit to start a buzzing garden of your own. Simply head over to BeesMatter.ca, sign up for your free seed kit and get planting! I used this as a learning experience for my daughter and we’ve loved watching the bees come and go, knowing that we’ve had a small hand in pollinating the food that we eat.

Speaking of food… I promised that I would give you a list of some of the crops that are pollinated by the bees. The following is just a small sample of some of the foods we love but you’ll get the picture. If you love any of these foods, go ahead and give a big hug and kiss to the next honey bee you see!

food-pollinated-by-honey-bees

Please head over to BeesMatter.ca for way more information on the honey bee than I could ever provide in a single blog post, and also to sign up for your free Buzzing Garden seed kit! Happy planting!!!

Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored by Bees Matter and compensation was received. I am responsible for the contents of, views and opinions expressed on this blog and not the sponsor mentioned above. Also, you probably shouldn’t hug or kiss a honey bee…

Bees Matter Honey Bee

Why Bees Matter More Than You Think

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I’m a little embarrassed to admit that up until a few weeks ago, my knowledge of the honey bee was limited to two things. The first was that I was secretly afraid of them and the second was the Honey Nut Cheerios mascot… What? I said I was embarrassed by it!

The funny thing is that I can’t even figure out where my fear of bees came from. I don’t remember having a particular traumatic experience with them as a child, yet every time I see a bee, I walk the other way. Sadly, it seems my son has caught on to this trend and is now terrified of anything bee related.

I saw a recent opportunity to partner with the folks at Bees Matter as a great chance to educate myself and my children on why we should learn to embrace bees as opposed to be being afraid of them. I only got as far as the first line on the Bees Matter website that reads, “One out of every three bites of food that we eat is made possible by pollinators like honey bees”, before I realized how wrong I had been about the importance of honey bees.

In reading more about the life of the honey bee I noticed that one of the biggest challenges they face is finding enough pollen to feed their communities. The Bees Matter ‘Buzzing Gardens’ program allows you to order a free seed kit to start a Buzzing Garden of your own. My 6 year old daughter, who has one of the kindest souls I’ve ever known, pronounced “Daddy, don’t be afraid of bees. We have to make a garden so we can save all the bees!! Pleeeeeeaaase!!!!”. While I didn’t have the heart to tell her the honey bees would be just fine, I also couldn’t say no to her pouty face and our seed kit is now on the way!

Bees Matter Fairy Garden

I’ll be sharing our Buzzing Gardens journey with you all as we plant the seeds and wait for the bees to arrive but in the meantime, I highly encourage you to head over to the Bees Matter website and order your own free seed kit. If my children’s excitement is any indication, you could have a really fun summer project on your hands!

Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored by Bees Matter and compensation was received. I am entirely responsible for the contents of and the views and opinions expressed in my blogs and posts and not the sponsor mentioned above.