By Ellie Kunkes
I have a confession. My personal holiday ranking list is based purely on the food. I love to cook but love eating even more, and Rosh Hashana has always topped my list of favorite holidays because of my sweet tooth. Apples dipped in honey, round raisin challahs, sweet noodle kugel, honey cake, even my brisket recipe has the real deal Coca-Cola in it. Most often the sugar in these traditional foods for the New Year comes from the all-natural sweetness of honey.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the first recorded instance of beekeeping was in Egypt, and many historians believe Hebrew slaves tended the hives. Honey was the sweetener of choice in many ancient civilizations, prized by the Greeks and Romans, and centuries later, by their European contemporaries. Throughout the Middle Ages, honey remained the main everyday sweetener across Europe before sugarcane became cheap and widely traded.
In fact, this is the primary reason we even have honeybees in America today. Honeybees are not native to North America; they were brought to our shores in 1622, by an English ship sailing to the Virginia colony with settlers and goods. The settlers needed familiar European bees to pollinate the imported fruit trees and agricultural plants that they brought over in their cargo to the New World.
Unfortunately, as popular as they are among honey enthusiasts, European honeybees are considered an invasive species by ecologists because they consume enormous quantities of floral resources and due to the large size of their colonies, they outcompete many native bee species.
Regardless of the species debate, the broader reality is clear: our pollinator populations are rapidly declining and the numbers are staggering. Humans rely on pollinators for approximately 75 % of major food crops, and the number of bee colonies per hectare of arable land has declined 90 % since 1962.
Honeybees are suffering from devastating waves of colony collapse disorder, mite infestations, and health issues. Native bee species are declining due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change, all three of which destroy their nesting areas and harm the specific wildflowers they need to survive. Perhaps most alarming, 25 % of bee species have not been recorded since 1990, while annual losses of managed bee colonies are estimated to reach as high as 40 %.
This Rosh Hashana, please consider making a New Year’ s resolution to support our local bee and pollinator populations. Helping bees thrive doesn’ t require sweeping change. A series of small, thoughtful actions can have a lasting impact.
First and foremost, reconsider any routine outdoor pesticide spraying. If your pest control company treats your lawn, trees, or landscaping, ask about bee-safe alternatives or whether those treatments are truly necessary. Almost all pest control sprays harm bees, or at the very least damage a bee’ s memory and ability to navigate.
If you can’ t avoid using insecticides, at the very least apply these materials after dark, when pollinators like bees are safe within their nests, and avoid spraying open flowers. Instead, release beneficial insects like ladybugs, green lacewings or praying mantids( yes, you can order ladybugs on Amazon). You can also strengthen your natural insect control by allowing spiders to build webs in your
The Charlotte Jewish News- September 2026- Page 11
A Sweet New Year’ s Resolution: Helping Our Bees Thrive yard or using mosquito dunks to reduce your yard’ s mosquito population.
Bees also need places to call home. While honeybees live in hives, many native bee species nest underground or seek shelter in fallen leaves and other natural debris. Instead of buying a new birdhouse this year, perhaps invest in a bug / bee hotel for your garden. Try adding some rocks to your birdbath or water feature. Bees need water to cool down their hives and dilute honey, and rocks give them a shallow place to land without risk of drowning
This summer at Camp Mindy, Levine JCC’ s summer day camp, first-grade campers learned about the importance of caring for our local bee population. They put that lesson into action by creating colorful birdbaths to provide a safe water source for bees and other pollinators..
To provide more easily accessible food sources for our flying friends, pay attention to the shapes of new plants you are introducing to your garden and yard. In many bee-pollinated flowers, there is a region of low ultraviolet reflectance near the center of each petal. The ultraviolet patterns are invisible to humans, but the contrasting ultraviolet pattern helps the bee locate the flower’ s center, almost like a graphic of a target.
As a result, bees love flowers where the central area( the pistil) is open and easy to access. Classic and beautiful examples are poppies, sunflowers, and zinnias. Bumblebees and native bees especially love tubular and lipped flower shapes such as lavender, penstemon, and foxglove, because many native bee species have the long tongues required to reach their nectar.
Have a soft spot for the oft-neglected native bee species? Planting native flowers does more than beautify your garden, it helps sustain the bees that depend on them. According to entomologist and conservationist Doug Tallamy, roughly 30 % of native bee species are pollen specialists, relying on specific native plants for survival. While honeybees can forage from many different flowers, these native specialists have no such flexibility.
In turn, substitute some of your favorite European plants for natives with these swaps: try rose mallow instead of hollyhocks, American boneset for Thalictrum Elin, and Anemone virginiana instead of Japanese anemones. For structure, use inkberry holly or Don’ s Dwarf wax myrtle instead of the highly popular but also highly problematic boxwoods. Not only will these plants prove to be excellent sources of sustenance for native bees, because they are native species that have evolved in our area, they are uniquely positioned to succeed in our local Charlotte climate and soil types.
Even if you do not have any outdoor space or are not a gardener, there are other meaningful ways to support pollinators. Consider participating in the upcoming Great Southeast Pollinator Census, a“ citizen science” initiative that tracks pollinators and provides valuable research to scientists.
You can also visit the Extension Master Gardeners’“ Queenie the Bee” sculpture, in a new location each month at Freedom Park, to learn about different pollinator-friendly plants.
Finally, consider buying local honey. Charlotte’ s beekeepers do so much to protect and strengthen our local bee populations, and many people find that locally produced honey may help ease the symptoms of seasonal allergies.
Bees and their fellow pollinators are the key to maintaining a healthy ecosystem that supports all life on Earth. This year, when you are dipping your apples into honey and celebrating another sweet new year, remember your New Year’ s resolution and get into the garden!