Featuring Underwriters Laboratories and the Somme Preserves
by Dan Delaney
Once, in a quiet valley, there was a lush, rare meadow tended by a small band of caretakers who cherished its rare blooms and gentle creatures. Among them lived a great many species of rare flowers and some little golden bees, members of a rare and delicate species who came feel safe here. The caretakers worked tirelessly to protect the meadow, ensuring that its fragile treasures thrived.
Beyond the meadow stood a grand estate, separated by a tall hedge. The people of the estate loved their grounds but were a bit busier with other affairs. In one corner, a group of them, known as the Green Guild, set up hives for honeybees, hoping to support nature in their way. They admired the neighboring meadow from afar but assumed it was unrelated to their work.
Their honeybees were diligent and energetic, buzzing over the hedge to forage in the meadow. Though their honey was sweet and abundant, their numbers and fervor began to crowd out the golden bees, leaving the delicate creatures hungry and weak. Flowers that once depended on the kind of pollination produced only by the golden bees began dropping out as the golden bees’ numbers fell.
The meadow’s caretakers noticed these losses and sent messages to the estate, pleading for the hives to be moved to a better place. But the estate was vast, and the letters were lost in its labyrinthine halls. The caretakers grew frustrated, fearing that those beyond the hedge cared little for their meadow.
One day, a caretaker named Lina met a young member of the Green Guild named Ezra by chance at the edge of the meadow. She told him of the plight of the golden bees and the meadow’s fragile balance. Ezra was astonished; he had not known of the rare flowers, the rare bees, or the harm the honeybees caused.
Moved by Lina’s story, Ezra spoke to his guild. “We meant no harm,” he said. “We thought we were helping, but we see now that we must do better.” The guild agreed to distribute the hives among guildmembers that lived distant from the rare meadow.
But Ezra didn’t stop there. “What if we work together?” he asked Lina. “We could grow more wildflowers, plant native trees, and restore the land we share.”
In spring, the caretakers and the Green Guild worked side by side, planting and sowing, laughing, and learning from one another. The golden bees returned to their blooms, the honeybees thrived in their new homes, and the meadow flourished in harmony with the estate.
From that day on, there was no longer a hedge dividing the two lands. Instead, there was a path lined with flowers and a bond of trust and shared purpose. The people and the bees, though once separated, had found they thrived together.
The Source of This Fable
Somme Prairie and Somme Prairie Grove Nature Preserves border the Underwriters Laboratories campus. In 2022, the very rare Rusty Patched Bumblebees and Southern Plains Bumblebees were discovered inhabiting this rich landscape. Unfortunately, honeybees from the hives that had been set up at UL by ecology-minded employees were found to be competing with the rare native species found at Somme. Honeybees can seek pollen from a wide range of plants, both wild and cultivated. Rare native bees, instead, often depend on rare wildflowers for their sustenance and survival.
After requests sent to UL corporate by the Cook County Forest Preserve’s John McCabe appeared to become lost within UL, one of Somme’s stewards reached out to Mike Manrique, one of the members of UL’s ecology group. This helped result in UL’s decision to move the hives. Both the Somme stewards and the UL ecology group realized they had much in common and are looking into ways to join forces next spring to help introduce a more native ecology on the UL grounds bordering Somme that could potentially support Rusty Patch and Southern Plains Bumblebees.
For more on this story, check:
https://woodsandprairie.blogspot.com/2024/11/friendly-victory-on-honeybees-as-both.html
and
https://woodsandprairie.blogspot.com/2024/05/loss-of-diverse-pollinators-should-we.html
1 comment:
Great news! Corp campuses, school yards, homes ... There is so much unfulfilled potential everywhere.
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