Our theme is The Sacred – but with today’s poem ‘Buddleias’ you may think we have reverted to the Summer theme. Indeed there is much that is sacred about the bee. It is Day 592 of the daily poems. When it was Day 573 our poet Brian Ford, in his poem ‘Scent of flowering privet’, said Only the bees are working. I asked But where are the bees? What I fear is that the bees are largely dead. Varroa mite is a major killer of bee colonies, as are neonicotinoids. Here is a quote from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (March 2024): “For the fourth year in a row the UK Government has granted an emergency approval for the use of a banned pesticide on sugar beet in England. This is against the advice of its own Expert Committee on Pesticides as well as that of the Health and Safety Executive.” Neonics are systemic pesticides which affect the central nervous system of insects, leading to eventual paralysis and death. Bee and butterfly populations in the UK are declining. But the buddleias have done well this year.
Buddleias
The buddleias have done well this year.
Long branches arch skywards,
tipped by plump cones of tiny flowers,
pure, virginal white and imperial purple;
butterfly bushes.
I remember seeing them festooned
with flocks of red admirals, peacocks and cabbage whites,
fritillaries, painted ladies, commas,
all feasting on the abundance of nectar,
they provided.
The buddleias have done well this year,
but where are the butterflies?
Brian Ford