by
William A. Gralnick
Every opinion writer wants to write something important. It is scary but at this moment in history there are so many issues that seem monumentally important, one is stymied in choosing. One tosses and turns at night asking, “Is it climate change? Is it politics? Is it war? Is it anti-Semitism and other irrational hatreds? Is it the general human condition? No matter which of these you choose, or if you choose another topic, each has an overwhelming number of topics within. Such rock piles cause writer’s block, a condition that strikes COVID-like fear into author’s fingers.
I’ve come to a decision (drum roll, please.). It’s climate change. If the planet dies, none of the other subjects matter. Having made the decision, I will devote most of my writing for months to come to issues of climate change (as I sit here hoping the air conditioning holds out, south Florida is under a heat advisory and the temperature is only supposed to reach 90 degrees but the humidity feels like one is carrying around the air like one was wearing a wet blanket. That’s nothing compared to the 113 predicted for Las Vegas.). Yes, I will write about other things, but I feel that we as the earth’s occupants aren’t nearly aware enough of the intricacies of the issues that keep us alive, the things going on around us unless and until they hit us in the face.
Here’s an example. My wife and I went shopping yesterday. That decision in and of itself was probably stupid. Even though the car is new and its air-conditioning is fine, the getting in and out began to wear on her. She turned clammy, got weak in the knees, sweat bathed her, and she began to feel faint. I pulled into the closest place that served liquids which happened to be Starbucks. At first she was feeling too weak even to get out of the car. When that passed, I hustled her inside. Some iced tea, caffeine, and the sugar of a pastry got her back on track. It was then that I raised the subject of something I saw as we staggered into the safety zone. It was a freshly dead Mourning Dove.
Freshly dead? It’s feathers were unruffled. There was no blood around it or other damage visible so no cat had gotten to it. It’s eyes were still in the sockets, not having rolled back into its head. It lay there on the hot sidewalk as if it had suddenly decided to take a quick nap. I’m neither scientist nor veterinarian but my guess is that this bird was felled by the heat before it could find any water and began to feel exactly like my wife felt. Heat can and does kill. In cities across the land people, along with birds, are dying. In the past two decades approximately one billion (yes, that’s with a b) birds have been lost. The import of that needs no explanation. This next tidbit, from a group called Environmental Action, does. It’s about Bumblebees, which I always thought was two words. It isn’t. I also thought you should know, along with me, why they are called that. This is why: “Bumblebees are well-known for their meandering, ‘bumbling’ flight, and their distinctive loud buzz – which is where their scientific name Bombus (meaning ‘booming’) comes from.”
It was an article about the disappearing Bumblebee population that pointed out that over a quarter of all native American Bumblebees have disappeared. Much of the carnage is the fault of us using pesticides. They said, “One of the most pressing threats to wild bees is proliferation of a class of toxic pesticides called neonicotinoids. In 2013, 50,000 bumblebees in Oregon dropped dead from linden trees that were sprayed with neonicotinoids.” Then came this. “Additionally, now that our climate is warming faster than ever, native bees may not be able to adapt quickly enough. Warming temperatures have been found to induce stress and force bees from their native habitats.”
How much thought does one give to bees? I’d venture to say none unless one is in a situation where being stung is likely. But what if I told you this about Bumble Bees? The American bumblebee population has plummeted by 90% since the year 2000 due to the same factors that affect other key pollinators: habitat loss, climate … Environmental Action is pushing to have these bees put on the endangered species list.
“Isn’t that a bit much of a fuss about bees?” you might ask. Not in the face of this. (‘gotta love the web.) These facts are samples from it. Bumblebees are important pollinators of wild flowering plants and crops. As generalist foragers, they do not depend on any one flower type. However, some plants do rely on bumble bees to achieve pollination. Loss of Bumblebees can have far ranging ecological impacts due to their role as pollinators. “Bumblebees aren’t picky about temperature, sun, and rain like honey bees. They’re hard workers – out [on crop flowers] even when it’s raining and cloudy.”- Anonymous Wisconsin Fruit Grower (I don’t know why he chose anonymity.)
Bees generally are the most important pollinating animals in the world. Their diversity, abundance, and wide geographic range allow them to be regular visitors to crop flowers across all continents, excluding Antarctica. Bumblebees are no exception and are excellent pollinators of a variety of crops in the Northern hemisphere. …in Wisconsin, for instance, Bumblebees visit apple, cranberry, raspberry, squashes, tomatoes, alfalfa, and of course, wildflowers.
The Xerces Society notes that unlike other bees Bumblebees will pollinate in areas higher and lower, warmer and cooler than honey bees. Clemson University, which has a research component dealing with pollination, tells us, “Bumblebees are an effective alternative to labor-intensive manual pollination of greenhouse grown tomatoes, sweet peppers and strawberries. The Bumblebees’ longer tongue and wing vibrating tendencies make them more efficient pollinators for some plant species.”
OK. TMI. More than you ever wanted to know about Bumblebees, but…unless we wise up to crucial but little cared about facts, we may run out of food. That’s worth some consideration–at least from my perspective.
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If you’d like to lighten your reading content, Bill suggests visiting http://www.williamgralnickauthor.com or Amazon.com to find his humorous memoir trilogy: The War of the Itchy Balls and Other Notes From Brooklyn, George Washington Didn’t Sleep Here, and That’s Why They Call It Work.” In the “sometime in the future” category, he shares that he is working on his first novel, “The Bundle,” a story about how a little person changed the lives of some big people.
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