Slow Clap Presents: Bee Bags

Real story.  Real stupid.

I went for a walk with the handsome husband last fall when we passed by several bags attached to street signs.  We hadn't seen them before and decided to check them out.  Upon closer inspection, we discovered that these bulging white bags were filled with liquid and an absurd amount of dead insects that appeared to be bees.  We walked a little farther and there was another one, on a street sign, filled with dead bees.  It was hard to see what kind of bees as the bags were white but not totally opaque.  It led to an interesting discussion for our walk.

Isn't the population of essential bees in decline?  Don't we need more pollinators in general?  Are they even honey bees in the bags that we saw?  Who puts bee bags on street signs anyway?  

We've all heard about the crisis of the declining honey bee population that is necessary for pollinating crops that feed us.  Without honey bees and other pollinators, we are in big trouble.  Here's the catch, depending on what news source you subscribe to, bees may never have even been in any danger.  It's hard to get accurate information at times and with conflicting news and differing articles, I don't even know if bees were actually endangered.

I researched bee bags a little bit and it looks like most are designed to entrap wasps and other "nonessential" bees.  They enter the bag through the top and become trapped inside where they eventually drown in the liquid mixture of chemical attractant and water.  When it's full you simply toss it into the garbage and hang a fresh bag.

Here's my issue, unless you have some massive insect problem, it's just stupid.  I couldn't find the same bee bags online that we saw on our walk but I did find several that are the same concept.  At nearly 6 dollars a bag, it's a huge waste of your money.  It's plastic that will go into the garbage along with a non-quantifiable amount of dead bugs.  It just isn't necessary, like them or not, bugs serve a purpose.  The bags say they are safe for honey bees but do you really believe that?  Maybe they are, maybe they aren't, but as consumers, we should know by now that not everything companies say are safe is actually so.  

My two cents:  I think the bags are a waste of money and space in the trash.  There is no reason to hang bags on street signs or anywhere else, save for that massive insect infestation.  If I were walking down the street and lured by the delicious aroma of pizza, only to become trapped and drown, I would be none too pleased.

Rating:  I give bee bags one out of five possible slow claps for being stupid on a Tuesday.

A similar design to the Bee Bag