The York River Garden Club learned how to believe in bees. Last Thursday, the York River Garden Club held a meeting at Bethany United Methodist Church, Gloucester Point, that was all about the bees of the area. Henry “Hurricane” Thompson came to defend the misunderstood insects and educate the gardeners on how valuable they are to the plants of the area. Thompson spent the meeting discussing the importance of native solitary bees. Solitary bees are much different from the popular honey bees. A major giveaway is in the term, solitary, because unlike honey bees, they do not live in hives. Solitary bees, such as mason bees, live alone in their small holes. One of the most important differences that Thompson pointed out was that these native bees are far less likely to sting people than the foreign honey bee. The job of the hive bee is to protect its queen and honey, and are constantly on the defense. Solitary bees are far more docile. Only female bees have stingers, and for these non-hive...