This is the penultimate day for the #7daypositivitychallenge that beautiful @riverflows tagged me in and I must say I'm really glad I decided to give it a go. This is going to be a slightly shorter than usual post, but I hope you will find value in it nonetheless.

I was sat outside this morning contemplating life... yes seriously we've had some bad news and I was just trying to process it. I'm not going to get into that here because that's not what this post is about and more importantly it's what I found when I was sitting that inspired my gratitude post today.

The bees were going about their daily pollen collection on the lavender plant by my front door and it was on the grass just next to them where I sat. Watching these beautiful little stripey insects going about their work, the hum of their buzz was rather musical. Bees need pollen and the plants need bees in order to produce their seeds to carry on the next generation.
As I'm sure most of you all know, recent studies have shown that bee populations are in decline. Insecticides containing dangerous neonicotinoids are sprayed on crops around the world. These deadly poisons are mass produced by companies such as Bayer and Monsanto are clearly wreaking havoc on the natural order of things. We need to do something about it. So here's my list of how we can help the bees.

1. Let your garden get a bit wild. Leave some weeds like dandelions and the odd wildflower.
2. Buy as local as you can and make sure it's not GMO produce. The less business for Monsanto the better.
3. If you have a big enough garden consider inviting bees to nest in your garden by making a beehive they can inhabit. @mountainjewel did a really good post about it a few weeks back. You can read it here.
4. Avoid using insecticides in your own garden or balcony. I know it's tempting but there are a number of ways that pests can be reduced naturally. You can even plant certain flowers that attract the predators of the pests.
5. Bees actually drink water, leave a small bowl of water out for them to quench their thirst.
6. If a bee goes into your house, gently usher it out. Please don't try to swat the little dude... Ok so this is going to sound really crazy but I actually ask them to politely leave and point to the way out. It works. I've never been stung or attacked.
   
   I took this image about 2 years ago.. look at the pollen on his legs!

I'm super thankful for bees. Without them flowers would die, and our food supply could collapse. Next time you see a bee, I hope you remember this post and acknowledge their part in our world.

I'm going to leave you with a lovely TED X talk from a beautiful lady and bee conservationist named Sarah Red-Laird who alongside educating the next generation about beekeeping, works alongside farmersand land managers to conserve bee habitat.

~SAVE THE BEES~

I was tagged by @riverflows to:
Write a post about something you have to be positive about today - this could be anything from being thankful for your current situation, someone being nice to you, being thankful for your friends and family, or even being thankful for the opportunity you have been given here on Steemit - just keep it positive :)

• Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated.

• Mention three people who should do this on each day.

• Tag it with #7daypositivitychallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post

• Include a picture of something positive (related to your story if possible.)

I'm going to break the rules again and offer it out to whoever reads this and wants to carry on the challenge. So many have been tagged already. Let me know in the comments if you do, and if I'm not already following you I will.

~ONE LOVE~

I'm proud to be a member of the @ecotrain community. Come check out the amazing content from other #ecotrain passengers. A group of diverse human beings, sharing a collective vision to help make this world a better place

Proud to be a member of:

The 8 Pillars Of @tribesteemup

Join us @steemitbloggers
Animation By @zord189