Ed, a reader, sent me an interesting link to an NPR story about a donation by Haagen Daz (the ice cream maker) towards bee research. They say it’s motivated by the fact that 40% of their ingredients depend on honey bees. I imagine it’s also motivated by the desire for NPR to write a story about Haagen Daaz, but perhaps I’m just being cynical.
Haagen Daz has a whole web site, helpthehoneybees.com, explaining what they’re up to. It’s mostly content-free PR pap (“Haagen Daz ice cream uses over one million pounds of almonds every year”), but they do have just the cutest little bee generator you’ve ever seen. Here’s my creation. Don’t you just wanna pinch its little cheeks?
PS The comment consensus is that the bees are attracted to coal because it’s a warm spot to hang out and drink water from. In the dry summer months (yes, we get those in Seattle), I put out a bowl of water with rocks in it for a similar reason. Bees can’t make water landings, so they need a solid spot place to land when they want a drink
