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How Hemp is Helping to Save the Bees!
- All About CBD, News
- 05/14/2020
We know that honey bees play an essential role in our world’s ecosystem. We also know due to pesticides, loss of habitat, and a variety of environmental factors, they are becoming endangered at an alarming rate. The good news is, with the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill and the recent demand for CBD and hemp products, bees are getting some help from the hemp community. Learn more about how hemp is doing its part to help save the bees and why bees are so important.
How do Bees Benefit From Hemp?
As we learn early on, honey bees and bumblebees’ jobs are to collect pollen and nectar as food for themselves and their colonies. While hemp does not produce nectar, it does product pollen, which is an essential carbohydrate for the bees and half of the puzzle. Bees are attracted to the male hemp plants, which produce large amounts of pollen in the summer months. Bees collect the pollen from these plants and carry it in their hind legs. They then bring this pollen back to their hives and transfer some to female plants along the way.
One of the reasons why bees are dying is due to pesticides used in commercial farming. And as more land is being dedicated to hemp farming with the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, bees are getting a chance to move onto greener pastures. Many hemp farmers (like ours) are using organic practices that do not use these harmful pesticides and welcome bees as part of their ecosystem. So the increases in hemp farms have provided a healthier source of food for bees, where they can make a new home nearby. The bees can thank us, and we thank them too!
Why Are Bees So Important?
Bees are important to our livelihood because, through pollination, they help crops grow. These crops include those that our livestock feed on, to the fruits and vegetables we eat every day. Unfortunately, the bee population has been decreasing so rapidly that they are on the endangered species list, and many species of bees are on the verge of extinction. You can see the obvious problem here. Bees need us, and we need them.
According to the USDA, “Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because pollinators like the bees make it happen. So we owe to the bees to stimulate the population and protect them!
How Can you Help Save the Bees?
Find out if your preferred hemp or CBD company uses organic farming methods like the folks at Kentucky’s Best Hemp. Always try and rehome bees with the help of a professional vs removing them altogether. If you are able to, plant some bee-friendly flowers or switch to some a natural DIY pest control. If you want to help, there are plenty of articles and blogs with easy ideas to help the bees in your community! Remember, they need us as much as we need them!
