From Silent Spring to Nature’s Best Hope
Insects, Insects, Insects, and birds
I recently captured a photo of a carpenter bee on the flower of the privet senna shrub growing in a sunny area of my garden. I was delighted because it is a sign of a healthy environment in my garden.
I planted the senna because the leaves are essential for the Cloudless Sulfur caterpillars. I have yet to see a caterpillar on this plant, but capturing a native Florida bee busily flying from flower to flower was amazing to watch, and it shows the importance of the flower for pollinators. (See Privet Senna on Florida Wildflower Foundation)
If you research information about carpenter bees, you will find how “evil” they are and how many chemicals there are to eradicate them. You will also read about bee stings, but it wasn’t stinging me. It wasn’t in any way aggressive. It was just flying from flower to flower getting some nourishment. We have loads of large trees in the area. It has plenty of branches to build its nest in. So, I won’t spray it. Let it be. Just let it be.
I read Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, when I was in graduate school in the early 70s. I had a Bachelor of Science in biology and was working on a Master of Science in Botany. I heard her message about the dangers of the indiscriminate use of pesticides in the…
