Do you like honey? I do. It is great with strawberries and is delicious all by itself. Did you know it takes about 6,000 bees visiting more than 2 million flowers to make a pound of honey? Honey is wonderful for many reasons. It helps with weight loss and improves athletic performance. It fights infection. And it has antibacterial, antioxidant, and antifungal properties. You just have to make sure you buy raw, unfiltered honey.

Bees are intimately connected to our planet and I think of them especially because the Earth Day holiday will be here before we know it. Earth Day takes place on April 22nd. In past blogs I have written about how we treat animals and the effect our actions have on them. Bees are animals too, even though most people usually lump them only in the insect category.

I am very concerned about bees because they have been dying at alarming rates over the last years. Until recently, many people did not understand why bees were dying. Harvard University researchers determined a certain class of pesticides, called neonicotinoids, is to blame. These pesticides have been banned in Europe but not in the US. Neonicotinoids can persist in the soil for more than ten years and are used on corn, soy, wheat and more. Bees are essential to us, for they pollinate our crops. Without bees, we would lose a tremendous amount of food. The next time you eat an apple, a pear, an olive, or some almonds; you can thank a bee for its hard work.

Remember that Earth Day will soon be here. Take good care of the ground beneath your feet and the plants around you. Keep your yard and work-place free of pesticides. Pesticides are harmful to the bees, your health, your children’s health, and to your pet’s health.