The Bees

One of the things we can see all around the world these days is the unrelenting assault on the feminine. As more and more people are being coerced by the so-called ‘New World Order’ into occupations which are considered more ‘productive’, ‘profitable’, ‘economically viable’, traditional crafts, gentle lifestyles and the very appreciation of beauty is being driven further and further underground. In an increasingly pragmatic, goal-oriented culture, the appreciation of the beautiful things in life is considered ‘uncool’, ‘unhelpful’, and ‘time-wasting’. “Don’t smell the flowers, get back to work”, is the cruel cry. Yet, there are questions as to whether an even more industrialised, brutalised world is even sustainable, many of these revolving around the devastating impact on the environment they cause.

Just as it is proving psychologically traumatic to force millions into concrete jungles, where little natural beauty is there to inspire and lift people’s spirits, leading to a decayed life affected by drug abuse, criminality and unsettled personal relationships, so attempts to industrialise nature are leading to unexpected calamities. One of these is the sudden decline in bee populations.

When I was growing up, it was always fun to see the bumble bees playfully (or so it seemed), hopping from one flower to another, pollinating them so that future flowers and fruits could emerge. Yet, this sight is becoming increasingly rare in a landscape that discriminated against the natural growth of ‘pretty but useless’ flowers in favour of ‘cash crops’ that can be sold at a profit. The flowers that the bees rely on are increasingly rare, which means that, as the flowers likewise rely on bees, we are facing the possibility of an increasingly barren landscape that can sustain neither.

A mysterious new disease has also sprung up in many industrialised country’s bees, called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), in which for some reason whole colonies of bees suddenly disappear or die. No-one yet knows what causes it, but combined with the loss of available flowers, it is threatening bees all the more. On top of this, there are all the floods and droughts that appear to be caused by climate change,
What can we do about it? First of all, gardeners can plant more flowers that bees like, to help make up for the deficit. Then, farmers can plant more ‘bee-friendly’ crops in areas that are less profitable anyway, like hedgerows.

But the real change, to my mind, is a much more dramatic one. People need to be encouraged, in school and elsewhere, to appreciate the beauty and importance of flowers- that beautiful things are vital to the life of the planet. I somehow doubt we can totally avoid the great destruction that our ignorant, brutalising policies have brought upon us, in terms of global warming and other environmental problems. But we can help to stem the tide and alter destructive attitudes as much as possible. For our current attitudes to the natural world are not only selfish- they’re downright suicidal.