Honey bees are going extinct because of excessive use of pesticides in crops and certain blood-sucking parasites that only reproduce in bee colonies. It’s true that the extinction of bees would mean the end of humanity.
"For many of us, honeybees are annoying. We think that their only purpose is to keep buzzing around and dropping their formic acid-laden stings on random people (this impression will certainly change when we stop getting spoonfuls of sweet honey in our morning cereal).
The truth is, honeybees are crucial elements of our environment, and almost never get the credit that they deserve.
If bees didn’t exist, humans wouldn’t either.
Bee extinction – Why would it affect us?
Out of the 100 crop species that provide us with 90% of our food, 35% are pollinated by bees, birds and bats (source). It’s that simple.
Bees are the primary initiators of reproduction among plants, as they transfer pollen from the male stamens to the female pistils."
Since 2006, the population of bees has declined considerably (source). Pesticides, disease, parasites, and poor weather due to global warming have played a major role in this worrying decline."
In fall and spring, we tidy-to-a-fault gardeners like to clean leaves and plant debris from our gardens.
BUT ... JUST DON'T DO IT.
https://savvygardening.com/spring-garden-clean-done-right/Fall:
... reasons why you shouldn’t do a fall garden clean up. ... let your garden stand all winter in order to provide habitat for many of the beneficial insects and other creatures living in it.Spring
Lots of beneficial insects, including pollinators like tiny native bees and pest-munching predators like syrphid flies, lacewings, and parasitic wasps, spend the winter hunkered down in hollow plant stems either as adults or pupae. Cutting down the dead plant stems too early in the spring will disturb them before they have a chance to emerge. Wait as long as you can to do your spring garden clean up. Ideally, you should wait until the daytime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees F. Or ... just don't do it at all.
This year I totally conquered my ocd urges and social pressures to clean out my garden fall and spring. The debris is now mulching the garden nicely and hidden by new growth, and for the first time in my 15 years here in the concrete jungle, there are honeybees flying around my garden.
A very simple but significant change.
Who knew!
And don't prune shrubs in spring either - cocoons attached! Lol
Mother Nature is still the best gardener. Lol