THE WAY OUT HERE

The proof is in the pollinators

BY HUNTER HILL
Posted 8/16/22

My sons enjoy a book that I read at least once a week to them. It’s titled “The Beeman,” and it’s by Laurie Krebs. My favorite part is the opening page, which quotes a poem written by Aileen Fisher.

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THE WAY OUT HERE

The proof is in the pollinators

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My sons enjoy a book that I read at least once a week to them. It’s titled “The Beeman,” and it’s by Laurie Krebs. My favorite part is the opening page, which quotes a poem written by Aileen Fisher.

There wouldn’t be sunflowers

Wouldn’t be peas

Wouldn’t be apples

On apple trees

If it weren’t for fuzzy old

Buzzy old bees

Dusting pollen

From off their knees.

Every time I read the poem, half by heart, with my oldest mumbling along, we fall under the spell and wonder of bees. 

I’ve never given a whole lot of thought to them in general, although you occasionally hear folks discussing population concerns or nuisance bees in someone’s shed, etc. 

I have, on the other hand, thought it would be nice to have my own honey one day as a part of this whole homesteading way of life. I’m very fortunate to have good connections when it comes to getting honey in the meantime. 

Having come into possession of some used bee box equipment, I’m certain that experiment isn’t too far off, but at this point in the game, I have other irons in the fire, so to speak. 

Anyway, aside from raising bees for honey, I’ve come to realize even more in recent weeks how important they are to what I already do, i.e., vegetable farming. 

In our house, which for the most part is insect-free, we have two avocado trees growing in two different rooms in the house. Both are around five years old; we started them from seed shortly after my wife and I were married. From what we understand about them, they should be fruiting any year now, but neither has shown any such intention. However, they serve as a model for the pollination discussion. 

I assume the reason they aren’t fruiting is their isolation, not only from each other but also from  any other plants or insects that would serve as pollinators. My greenhouse may be experiencing similar issues. While we planted nearly 100 tomatoes and another few hundred onions and maybe 20 pepper plants, none seem to be fruiting with great vigor. Are they fruiting? Yes. But aside from known issues, which included an irrigation snafu, I am tempted to believe that there is a pollination limitation due to being sealed off from the outside. Admittedly, my greenhouse has more than a few gaps and is by no means airtight. But, the boundaries it does provide could limit the visits of native winged pollen-providers. 

Apples and other fruit-bearing trees I believe are more susceptible to the effects of poor pollination. This is purely my own observation, but you see years where, for instance and for no perceptible reason, apple trees won’t produce any fruit. A tree that has been pruned and watered and has not experienced any hardships from the elements over the past year may still stand bare of fruit but full of healthy leaves and sturdy new growth in a season, or even in many seasons back-to-back. 

I never really understood why as a kid, but then again I hadn’t read “The Beeman’’ with my parents—I discovered it recently as an adult. 

Kids’ books are a wonderful portal to learning and discovery, and are not always just for the kids. The way out here we read to our children every night to put them to sleep. I hope this doesn’t just help them to learn, but to begin to understand the world around them. 

It seems such a silly thing not to consider these otherwise-invisible workers in the botanical realm. Pollinators hold the key to great feats of harvest down the road, but as with planting a tiny seed in the soil, so too does the cycle require these pesky yet petite visitors. Otherwise, as the poem states, there wouldn’t bee any sunflowers, peas or apple trees.

poem, family, pollinators

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