JUNE 24, 2011 PART II: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE ?

"Like a tree our growth depends upon our ability to soften, loosen and shed boundaries and defenses we NO LONGER NEED!"

We all must get real. Why do you have defenses? We all build up walls or natural defenses. We do this to protect ourselves. Have you been hurt or disappointed in the past? The answer is Yes. I know I have. We build up walls around our heart to protect us from getting hurt a second or third time. Sometimes we cannot or will not allow a person to break those walls for fear of being hurt. We all have fears. You get hurt in a relationship. You build a wall that represents your fear of intimacy and trust. Your growth depends on awareness, acknowledgement and acceptance. You must accept the fact that you have walls. Once you accept the fact that you have these defenses, then and only then can these defenses come down. It takes work. It takes work. It takes spirituality and meditation. It takes you wanting to. It depends on your will to work on yourself from the inside, not the outside.

The decline in bees was noticed by many beekeepers in 2005. A name was not applied until later--it was called CCD - Colony Collapse Disorder. With more than a 50% drop in the number of managed honey bee colonies throughout North America , there is a real threat to the agricultural industry. This threat is growing every year. This global phenomenon is known as the POLLINATION CRISIS.

If you do not know about this, it is about time you started to read more and try to get involved-- not only in saving the bees, but saving disappearing moth, bat and wildflower populations as well. Take a beekeeping course for knowledge at http://www.honeybeelives.org/ Without bees you will NOT have apples, pears and berries as these are entirely dependent on pollinators for fruit development. The United States agriculture industry has a large scale operation to import honeybees to pollinate almonds and alfalfa. Beekeepers are paid to ship their bees to fields in California to pollinate the almonds, alfalfa and other important foods. Without a solution to CCD 80% of fruits and vegetables that require pollination might never make it to market. This is stressful for the bees as well as the beekeepers.

The beekeeper must always make sure his hives are free of the varroa mite. The varroa mite infestation has been associated with an increased incidence of viral disease in bees. Since 2006, the Varroa mite strategies and understanding of bee dynamics has helped control the mites, thus reducing loss in bee colonies. The varroa mite, pesticides and other factors compromises the bees immune system. Possibly it is the shipping of bees to all over the United States. Maybe there is something other than the varroa mite. Maybe a new viral strain. The situation has improved a bit since it was first recognized.

For those of you who do not know about pollination and bees, here it goes....Flower nectar is one of the two food sources used by honeybees. The other is pollen, which the worker (female) bees gather daily on their foraging flights to the flowers. As these honeybees forage for nectar, pollen sticks to their bodies. Some of this pollen rubs off on the next flower the bee visits. This pollen transport results in fertilization which leads to fruit production.

The pollen that does not fall on the next flower is carried back to the hive. In the hive it is stored in the honeycomb as a protein rich food source for the bees at other times, especially the winter. The comb is used to store pollen, make honey, hatch and raise the newborn bees. It is all so amazing! What a great community. I cannot imagine any human community, straight or gay, working like that. I have little hope for the few small gay communities I have seen to function at the bee level. Why? There is too much envy and jealously.

Until tomorrow...