Buzz Words

In Flanders fields, where the poppies blow, bees also like to hang out. But in Belgium and elsewhere, those pollinators are having a tough run. “Colony collapse disorder” is a now familiar if still terrifying term of art; “Israeli acute paralysis virus” is newer, but it hardly makes one warm in the heart. Other basic challenges are omnipresent and perhaps more surprising. Take habitat loss. Only a small fraction of bees actually live in hives and produce honey. The vast majority live underground, so concrete jungles don’t simply eliminate food sources, such as nectar and pollen, they also wipe out the very places in which so many bees burrow and brood.

In Belgium, where I live, various governmental and non-governmental organizations have sought to undo some of the damage. There’s the Week of the Bee and Maai Mei Niet (No‑Mow May), which turned out to be a huge success when it was launched this year. Organizers claimed it helped preserve food sources for more than...