One way to help is to get your own garden growing, says Robert Berghage, Ph.D., associate professor of horticulture, bee garden expert, Penn State University. With a little effort you can create a bee-friendly garden with plants that attract honey bees.
Here's what you'll need to get started:
Gardening Tools
Plants & Seeds
Bird Feeder and Seeds
Dr. Berghage is among the prominent university researchers, scientists and bee keepers who have been recruited by the makers of Haagen-Dazs ice cream to call attention to the honey bee crisis. The ice cream company has become involved in a campaign to save the bees because more than 40 percent of the ice cream they make includes ingredients dependent on honey bees for pollination. Those ingredients include vanilla, nuts, fruits and berries. Ice cream production is also dependent upon honey bees for alfalfa pollination, a key ingredient in milk production. Dairy cows rely on alfalfa for feed; without the cows we would not have milk, and without milk we would not have ice cream
Other members of the Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Bee Board are:
For more information visit http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/
ABOUT ROBERT BERGHAGE
Robert Berghage, Ph.D., is an associate professor of horticulture and bee garden expert at Pennsylvania State University. Berghage is the director of the Center for Green Roof Research at the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, and teaches a course in Eco-roof technology. He is the extension specialist for greenhouse crops and is involved with garden use of herbaceous plants and new plant evaluations. Berghage teaches a course in herbaceous plant identification, production and use, and teaches plant propagation. Dr. Berghage performs both research and extension outreach at Penn State on flower gardens and green roofs. He manages the Penn State Master Gardener program and is interested in developing pollinator-friendly plantings for the enhancement of pollinator populations.