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| OHCC LIVING | SEPTEMBER 2025 | 11 OUR BEES DON'T STING If you are fortunate to get a glimpse of our small local bees at work in your yard, you may want to quietly thank them for the tireless work they do, pollinating our plants as they suck out the nectar for their food and, in the process, making honey for us and the bears. Notice, also that they are not interested in stinging you, since they are literally "busy bees." Of course you won't antagonize them by waving your hands at them. In watching the bees, you might see an occasional Bumblebee, which is about three times the size of our little, faintly striped, local bee. Bumblebees are more likely to sting, and since they are larger than our "locals," their stings are also larger. Bee populations are facing a growing number of issues these days. Neonicotinoids, a type of deadly insecticide sold by the German company, Bayer, is responsible for killing both good (butterf lies and bees) and undesirable insects. Rest assured that these type of chemicals are not used here in Ocean Hills Country Club. Scientists believe that insecticides have weakened bee colonies. A more pernicious worldwide problem is with mites that came to this and other countries from Asia around 1982. Every bee location, except Hawaii and New Zealand is now affected by this invasion. Two varieties present a constant threat. Once they enter the hive, they weaken the bees, and it's only a matter of time before the whole hive dies. As if this isn't enough for beekeepers (and us)to worry about, there is something called Colony Collapse Disorder. It is suspected that as the bees weaken, the queen, the colony's leader decides to vacate her family from their hive to start a new hive where they may have a healthier life. Vacating the hive wouldn't be so bad, but many colonies from an apiary, will often follow. Sometimes up to a quarter of a beekeeper's hives are lost in one season. Butterf lies also pollinate plants, although they are more particular in their choices of which plant to pollinate; but their numbers are also declining. We humans are going to have to help Mother Nature achieve a substantially larger supply of these wonderful insects because in the extreme, if there is no pollination, there will be no fruit, vegetables, f lowers, or honey. By Peggy Goodman and Alma Smith Landscape Committee