Beautiful essay. The question of honeybees’ impact on wild bee populations in regions where honeybees are relative newcomers strikes me as deeply meaningful, however. ‘Trite’ seems a blunt word to choose for a process that - as a result mostly of agricultural commodification of Eurasian honeybees - has pushed many members of North America’s gorgeous kaleidoscope of wild bee kin to the brink. Making space for flowering plants that evolved in one’s region, and forgoing pesticides, can invite wild bees - like bumblebees, leaf cutters, carpenter bees, and mason bees - to create new homes and families while also feeding our honeybee friends. As generalists, honeybees can also use many of the same plants that their specialist cousins can’t survive without, so there’s a way to open our hearts to both the feral newcomers and the wild ones they’ve displaced (through no fault of their own).
Beautiful essay. The question of honeybees’ impact on wild bee populations in regions where honeybees are relative newcomers strikes me as deeply meaningful, however. ‘Trite’ seems a blunt word to choose for a process that - as a result mostly of agricultural commodification of Eurasian honeybees - has pushed many members of North America’s gorgeous kaleidoscope of wild bee kin to the brink. Making space for flowering plants that evolved in one’s region, and forgoing pesticides, can invite wild bees - like bumblebees, leaf cutters, carpenter bees, and mason bees - to create new homes and families while also feeding our honeybee friends. As generalists, honeybees can also use many of the same plants that their specialist cousins can’t survive without, so there’s a way to open our hearts to both the feral newcomers and the wild ones they’ve displaced (through no fault of their own).