The Daily Apple™© Volume 3, Number3
September 29, 2014
PGY 42, Day # 91
On Dodging Bumblebees and Wildflowers
Now it does not matter much, since summer has come and gone and fall is here. The grass is still green, but growth is slow and the flowers are almost gone. Leaves are turning all shades of bright and some shout for attention, "Look here!", "Look at me!", "I am the brightest!" ... can you hear their colors screaming out against eternal blue skies? The brilliant colors speak in a hushed amber glow, but some leaves shout out, before they fade and fall ... flutter and fall gently to the ground in still, sweet, warm air, kindled by the waning Autumn sun. Calm ... silence, broken by laughter, pleasant conversation and birdsong is Heavenly. Leaves weave and dance their final path to the ground ... soon to be frozen and covered with a wintry white blanket of snow. A few grapes (17 to be exact), blueberries and two apples are yet to be harvested. Yes, that's right, two apples.
The blueberry crop was good this year and I know why the grapes are sparse: severe pruning. But the apples? Two apples on a tree that gave me more than a bushel a few years ago? Two apples? That is my entire 2014 apple crop and I wonder why so few? I want to blame it on spring rain. Is it true? Is it just a tired old tree? Is this why the many blossoms dropped unfulfilled to the ground? Is it simple pollination failure, or part of a more global problem? As my mind wanders through these questions wondering if this is part of colony collapse disorder (CCD)?
Winter was long, hard and brutally cold. Spring was late, but explosive. Green burst into view shortly after the mid May full moon and appeared to display faster early growth than I had ever seen. Within two days, the scene was quickly transformed from drab brown and gray to a fluorescent glow as the buds on the trees burst rapidly into pale soft yellow-green leaves. By the seventh day after the full moon, early flowers were popping, new growth was nearly fully formed and the grass was growing like wild. It was time to get the lawnmower out.
When I cut the grass, my first focus is to make a paths to blueberries, grapes, apples and compost pile, and to cut a ring around the house and field, for tick abatement. One more thing: avoid the wildflowers, bumblebees, honeybees and other hymenoptera. Children laugh ... even my full grown children and many adults laugh at the sight of my "botched" lawn and missed patches of "weeds". Yes, my lawn does not meet the normal suburban neighborhood standard, the standard fairway pattern, or any other standards of lawn care. But, it does make sense. This is why.
I have been doing it for years. By dodging wildflowers, bumblebees, honeybees and other hymenoptera, I encourage growth of the wildflowers and give the bees a place to feed. My hope is that the honeybees and bumblebees will flourish as do the wildflowers and that my "crops" will flourish with them. This year, I saw one honeybee, many bumblebees, assorted hymenoptera and a single hummingbird.
We can only hope that "botched" lawns will become fashionable in the near future along with other more comprehensive efforts to reduce consumption, toxins, pollution and the ravaging of our planet. My suspicion is that honeybees are sentinel animals and CCD is a reflection of environmental decline. Autism rates are up as well, and recently published research suggests a link between autism and maternal exposure to insecticides during pregnancy. Wild animal populations are down as well. Can you see the dots? Try connecting them. Let's take care of need and boycott greed. Time to wake up and grow the flowers. There is NO NEED for arbitrary profit over people. Let's try cooperation over competition. And, slow down ... smell the flowers, while we still have flowers to smell. Recycling plastic bottles is necessary, but not sufficient.
Have a sweet day.
Dr. Mike
References:
1. On Seasons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season
2. On Lawns: http://mda.maryland.gov/SiteAssets/Pages/fertilizer/MDAProLawnCareManual6.24.13.pdf
3. On Hymenoptera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenoptera
4. On Colony Collapse Syndrome: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/
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