What is a wild place? Have you seen one? Ok, we know some if you have wild places IN your homes but leave the kids and pets out of it because we’re only talking about the great OUTDOORS! :) “A wild place could be a 15-minute drive from home where we can walk among plants in a meadow, or a tree-lined street, or front and back yard, if landscaped with wild creatures in mind”, says University of Delaware ecology professor, Douglas Tallamy, author of Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts with Your Yard. Why do we long for natural spaces, long expanses of blue sky broken only by clouds, mile after mile of evergreens or fields blooming with wildflowers, with no buildings, roadways, nor city noise to speak of?   It’s how we relax, calm our minds, regulate our hormones, and lower our blood pressure. “Getting back to nature.” It is synonymous to taking a break from the rat race, the 9-5, the workweek, and all the responsibilities that come with being a human these days. Spending time in nature can benefit both your body and mind, and that includes relaxing, hiking, gardening, etc. It has been shown to reduce stress, improve confidence and self-esteem, reduce loneliness, and improve your overall mood. Remember, you don’t have to go far if you want to spend quality time out in nature. You just need to find some green space, and let nature do its thing. So, yes, you most likely have seen a few wild spaces, even if you’ve never traveled to Alaska or Montana. Back yards and local parks are small wild spaces that connect the bigger national parks and nature reserves. Many acres are not required, but we must continue to preserve what we have and ultimately try to create more open wild places.  A beautiful wild place can start right outside your door!   How to Create a Wild Space in Your Yard We have always encouraged our followers to create open spaces in their yards where the wild things can grow. Here are a few quick steps to get started, which are also recommended by Douglas Tallamy and landscape designer Rick Darke in their book The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. – STOP using pesticides and herbicides. – Designate a portion of your green lawn as a native-plant wild space. – Replace plants that are not native, or are invasive, with plants which are native to your area. – Leave the leaves! Leaf litter, rotting logs, and brush all provide shelter and food for many different animal and insets species. – Water features, such as ponds, streams or manmade water areas attract wildlife. We told ourselves we wouldn’t get bossy in this blog post, but we can’t in good faith mention the growing No Mow May movement which helps all creatures to thrive and you don’t have to do a THING to participate. Meaning, YOU JUST STOP MOWING! For one month. Or two. We’re not counting. Here are five great reasons to participate in #NoMowMay, by postponing lawnmowing JUST until June (we know you can do it!): – A pause from mowing will give the wildflowers a chance to bloom and in turn nourish the bee population with a wider selection of nectar. – Reports show that the highest number of wildflowers, and production of nectar sugar, was found on lawns that were mowed just once a month, or every four weeks. -Allowing your lawn to rest, and thrive naturally, even for a few scant weeks, can actually drive up local bee populations and bee diversity! -You will either save the actual time of mowing (and we all know what a CHORE that is, OR you will save the cost of one or two weeks of hiring a lawn service. – A reduction in noise pollution! Spend time listening to nature.   Remember: Saving wild places is critical for human health and well-being, say both scientists and environmentalists. But defining what a wild place is or what the word “wilderness” means can be difficult, says Hoffman, author of Irreplaceable: The Fight to Save Our Wild Places. “If wilderness means a place untouched by humans, then none is left,” he says. Even the set-aside wildernesses where no one may have ever stepped have been altered through climate change, acid rain and other human interventions. What was the last TRULY wild space that you’ve seen or visited? Drop us a line at info@littlebeeofct.com, share your pictures, we’d love to hear about it! Check back here or visit us on Instagram or Facebook for updates. Honeybees are the livelihood of Little Bee of CT and so many other loyal beekeepers around the world. Without these busy, magnificent creatures, approximately one-third of our food supply would be jeopardized due to lack of cross-pollination. Don’t forget…not only do bees pollinate the food we eat directly, they also pollinate the wild plants, flowers, and clover used to feed the livestock our country depends on for meat. The pollination cycle is vast and has long-reaching implications if it’s interrupted. Thank you again for supporting the bees and for supporting Little Bee of CT. Visit our site to learn more about our company and our products!

Regenerative Farming from ‘Organic’ to ‘Regenerative Organic’ – It Starts in the Soil What does ‘regenerative farming’ really mean? Well, It’s the process of replenishing nutrients in plots of land that have been exploited for decades and then ultimately repairing the damage. It can completely transform a landscape and return biodiversity to an otherwise starved landscape. It’s a new higher level of standard that must be met by farmers, and affects animal health, soil health and the wellbeing of humans. You can’t talk about regenerative organic agriculture without first giving a nod back to the organic foods boom in the late 1990’s. The Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania helped define the organic standards to which farms are held by the USDA. Rodale has also taken to rebranding the former organic philosophy as regenerative agriculture. The new certification is called “Regenerative Organic Certification”, which can only be given after a brand receives organic certification (under a USDA certifier). The term “regenerative organic” was coined by Robert Rodale, son of J. I. Rodale, former head of the Rodale Institute. “Rodale Institute maintains that regenerative farming holds the potential to heal nearly every dimension of our society. And it starts in the soil.”  — foodtank.com “Our Healing Begins in the Soil” Now, this particular topic is not specifically focused on pollinators and our ever-favorite topic of saving the bees, but when you get down to the root of it (pun intended), everything begins in our soil. The very things we need to survive come from the stuff. And, if our soil is suffering, so will the pollinators, our food sources and ultimately…us! This new agricultural standard is beginning to infiltrate all markets (even fashion and skincare) and is becoming more mainstream. It is not seen as a trend, but something that is here to stay. Thank goodness for that.   Regenerative Practices Will Heal and Repair the Land Large companies, such as PepsiCo, General Mills and Nestlé all have plans to put regenerative practices in place in the foreseeable future. These plans will affect millions of acres of land, and the farmers that work the land will receive the support they need to help them transition as well. The same article goes on to explain, “Regenerative practices biologically create more surface cover for plants, end erosion, and increase beneficial microbial populations near the soil’s surface, where plants grow. When the soil microbiome is healthy, it protects plants from droughts or pests and can even stave off pathogens by producing toxins that trigger the plants to defend themselves.” When the soil is healthy, the plants are healthy. And, when the plants we eat are healthy, they produce antioxidants which are the chemicals that have been shown to slow the growth of cancer cells and boost our immune systems. Regenerative Organic Certification is designed to hold brands accountable to this higher standard which will help the farmed soil yield healthier plants and allow the plots of land to regenerate faster and better than those treated chemically. Read about the 7 Principles of Regenerative Agriculture here. We can also call them the 7 P’s! Pluralism, Protection, Purity, Permanence, Peace, Potential, and Progress. Full details in the article above, and each one makes us smile. We find all of this very promising and exciting for the future of Planet Earth! We have to live in harmony with nature, not destroy it.   Other Surprising News Surrounding Regenerative Organic Agriculture There is so much to learn on this topic, and we are only scratching the very surface. This quote was also one that gives such promise for the future. The data is surfacing that shows such other benefits of regenerative agriculture practices. “Perhaps most significantly, the protection offered from healthy soils applies to the vitality of our economic systems too. The Organic Trade Association released a study identifying “organic hotspots” in the United States…counties that have high levels of organic agricultural activity… According to the study, the poverty rate for an organic hotspot drops significantly… median income increases by US $2,000…”. —foodtank.com “Our Healing Begins in the Soil”   We will end on this note…where it all began. The practices that now define regenerative agriculture began with indigenous people and their deep connections to the land they farm. This connection allows them to work with nature rather than against it. Their way of farming has always been an active learning process, without one set solution, which allowed practices and traditions to change and grow as the land around them changed. We see such similarity in regenerative farming processes building on this respect for the land and the sustenance it provides for us all. We are hopeful for the future it will provide for all living creatures.   Please visit us on Instagram or Facebook for daily posts and updates. Honeybees are the livelihood of Little Bee of CT and so many other loyal beekeepers around the world. Without these busy, magnificent creatures, approximately one-third of our food supply would be jeopardized due to lack of cross-pollination. Thank you again for supporting the bees and for supporting Little Bee of CT. Visit our site to learn more about our company and our products!