To the editor:

Although there are snowdrops and pussy willows and a yellow haze from Chinese witch hazel, this is not the time to write about spring. Those of us who live here know that spring is a long way off no matter what the calendar says.

Instead I am going to write about pollinators and honey bees and poisons, so you can stop right here if you aren’t interested. There are many pollinators – flies, beetles, wasps, moths, butterflies and even the wind. It is the honey bee on which we are so dependent as 30 percent of our food is pollinated by bees, and these were imported from Europe as the New World had no bees that made colonies — theuy were for the most part solitary.

We have read about a mold that has attacked many hives but there are other destructive forces as well – i.e our crazy warm December weather caught many bees far from home when it suddenly turned cold and they never made it back. There is a tiny, tiny wasp that attacks and kills - a Tiverton beekeeper lost 1,700 bees that way

But far and away the worst is  a neonic systemic chemical which remains in the soil and does not wash off or deteriorate. If it is used as a spray it kills the bees immediately. The Tiverton beekeeper lost half his hives as the neighbor sprayed with Sevin to control mosquitoes – an impossible task.

If it doesn’t kill bees outright it affects their brain cells so that they no longer can find their way home.

If you are buying plants or shrubs you should ask if they have been treated with neonics. I have a list with the commercial names and would be happy to send you a copy. My e-address is sidneytynan@Gmail.com. Neonics have been already banned in Germany and France.

In the spring the Tiverton beekeeper takes his hives to a local apple orchard just as the flowers are beginning to open. When the bees have done their invaluable work, the orchard owner calls and says it is time to take back the hives as he is about to spray. He has just bought 21 more packages of bees to replace the hives lost. A package contains bees and a queen and weighs about 3 pounds and can cost anywhere between $125 to $135. (In case you are tempted to become a beekeeper.)

In my reading I came across several bits of information which may or may not be useful to you. 1) Bees eyes are most sensitive to yellow or purple, and I will have to check my yellow field flowers to see if that is so and may even plant some purple pansies although that is not my favorite color.

2) Butterflies are inadvertent pollinators as what they are after is the nectar. Nectar acts as a high energy drink because it takes a lot of work to make those wings go back and forth.

3) Pollen is vital to bees for its protein content. This varies greatly, and legumes such as peas and beans and clover produce a pollen that is particularly rich . I plan to grow some scarlet runner beans on a trellis and see what comes.

I would like to thank my beekeeper friends in Tiverton and Westport for their helpful information and I hope I have been accurate in transcribing it.  Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard, 2013; and A Buzz in the Meadow by Dave Goulson, 2014, provided lots of useful facts.

Sidney Tynan

Little Compton