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About the Birds and Bees and the Climate
It was rather quiet in my garden this spring. No buzzing bees (I was lucky if I saw one a day), and no chirping or calling by fledglings. There has been a steady decline for years, due to pesticide use, habitat destruction and climate change. But this year has been exceptional.
Rachel Carlson wrote Silent Spring 61 years ago, focusing on the effect of pesticides, particularly DDT on wildlife in the USA. While some action was taken, it was not enough to reverse the trend.
Bees
There has been a steady decline in the number of bees in my area, exacerbated by people replacing green gardens with stones and/or plastic, with a few ornamental plants dotted here and there. Understandable for those unable to garden or to afford a gardener, but bad for bees.
Bees have had it tough this past year, here. There was a drought last summer. Then there was a month of rain in the autumn. An unseasonably early frosty autumn night for which some plants were not prepared. A winter week that was colder than usual. This all took its toll on bees and the plants they rely on.
Then this year there was an unusually early warm spell. Queen bees came out of hibernation but there were few flowers for them. They cannot survive long without food, so they need plenty of flowers near at hand. And they…