Googling Bees

I just heard an ad for bee removal. It was the kind of removal that saves the bees and puts them in a new environment where they can thrive. It makes me feel bad because a few months ago we had a huge bee swarm on our very small Japanese Maple. The swarm was the size of a football and I only noticed it because my Hubby had disturbed it a few minutes earlier by parking by the tree, then walking by it quickly. He didn't see it, either. When I looked out the window, there were a whole bunch of bees buzzing that tree. It freaked me out, and instead of looking on the ever trusty internet, I called the city. Too bad. Because after that, I read that the bees were there because the queen and her troops were resting. There is no honey, no babies to protect, so they are not aggressive. They would leave in a day or so. But since the city was notified, they had to kill the bees. On the city's behalf, they did tell me if the swarm was 10 feet or higher off the ground, they would have left them alone. So, I was the reason over 1,000 bees were killed.
I don't know what the status of bees are now, but for the last several years there has been a grim succession of commercial bee hive collapse. Oh, I just Googled and found this: ScienceDaily (Apr. 14, 2009) — For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090414084627.htm
I feel a little better now.
A lot of people just hate bees and fear them. The other night when we were at an outdoor party, my Hubby thought something funny was on his hand, and without looking, just sort of squeezed it, but it was a bee, and he got stung. Within seconds his hand started swelling. We went to the kitchen and put vinegar on it, gave him some Benedryl, and a bag of ice. The toxin in a bee sting is the same as the scorpion. It's just a smaller dose.
What a lot of people don't know is, bees are essential in the creation of food. They pollinate blossoms, flowers, yes, but all our fruits, vegetables and nuts. Anything that flowers and creates a fruit has to be pollinated. If bees go away, so do we. So thank a bee today.