The Necessity of Bees in California
Every February, white petals blanket first the almond trees, then the floor of the central valley, an 18,000-square-mile expanse of California that begins at the stretch of highway known as the Grapevine just south of Bakersfield and reaches north to the foothills of the Cascades. The blooms represent the beginning of the valley’s growing season each year: Almond trees are first to bud, flower and fruit. At the base of the trunks sit splintered boxes — some marked with numbers, some with names, some with insignias — stacked two boxes high on a wooden pallet that fits four stacks. Inside the boxes are bees, dancing in circles and figure-eights and sometimes just waggling. With almond season comes bee season. Everyone in the valley knows when it’s bee season. There are bee-specific truckers; motels occupied by seasonal workers; annual dinners to welcome the out-of-towners; weathered pickups with license plates from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Florida parked in front of orchards at all hours of the night. And those ubiquitous boxes.
From “The Super Bowl of Beekeeping” by Jaime Lowe for the New York Times; Photo by Ilona Szwarc (@ilonaaszwarc)
#bee #bees #beekeeping #beesofinstagram #insects #nature #naturelovers #natural #flowers #savethebees #apiculture #honey #buzz #california #almond #almonds #bakersfield #montana #northdakota #southdakota #texas #florida #naturephotography #instagood #story #stories #thestorybar
