Honey is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the benefit of bees. But these tiny pollinators are responsible for a variety of food products we enjoy such as blueberries, almonds, and tomatoes.
Then there are the wildflowers. The Texas Hill Country is home to some of the most beautiful wildflower species on the planet, and bees play a HUGE role in this. Despite bees being crucial to our local and global ecosystems, all is not right in the world of bees and several factors ranging from habitat loss to pollution, disease, and invasive species (murder hornets, no thank you!) threaten our native bee populations.
The good news is that Hays County residents can take action to help save the bees in several ways.
Join the Hays County Beekeepers
Beekeeping can be an incredibly rewarding hobby and a pretty good way to ensure you’ll never have to buy honey from the grocery store ever again! The easiest way to get involved is to stop by one of the Hays County Beekeepers’ meetings. The group meets every third Tuesday of the month at Suds Monkey Brewing in Austin and has a Q&A session for beekeeping newbies from 6:30 to 7 PM.
This beekeeping 101 session before the regular meeting gives curious newcomers a chance to ask about everything from how honey harvesting works to how to relocate swarms.
Adding Pollinator-Friendly Plants to Your Yard
While Crosswinds isn’t zoned for agriculture and beekeeping, residents can still be a friend to bees. One of the best ways to do so is to plant flowering and pollinator-friendly plants in your yard. Bees are drawn to a wide variety of flowers, shrubs, and trees, and by planting even just a few of these in your Crosswinds home’s yard, you’ll be providing bees with a sanctuary and resource for food.
Reduce Your Use of Harmful Pesticides
Now that you have your gardening gloves on and are ready to plant some bee-friendly plants, we need to talk about pesticides. Science has caught up with our use of pesticides and it’s not good for bees. Pesticides that fall in the sub-group of neonicotinoids can be incredibly harmful to bees, inhibiting their ability to reproduce and ultimately leading to smaller and smaller bee populations.
If you’re going to use a pesticide in your garden, do a little research beforehand to ensure it doesn’t fall under the neonicotinoid grouping of pesticides. The bees will thank you!
Come Out for National Honey Bee Day
The Kyle Parks and Recreation Department is all about bees and will be honoring the food-producing insects as part of National Honey Bee Day on August 20th.
The public is invited out to Mary Kyle Hartson Park from 10 AM until 2 PM to learn all about bees from local naturalists. The first 100 attendees will also get a free hanging flower basket.
Now that you know all the buzz when it comes to beekeeping in Hays County, all that’s left to do is prep your yard to become a bee haven.
If you’d like to find your dream home, complete with a dream yard then contact the Crosswinds team today.