The Challenge Factory discussion

Save the Bees!
Challenge Starts July 1, 2024

There are over 20,000 bee species found in the world. This diversity encompasses some of the most important insects for agriculture, wild plants, and home gardens.
Many plants rely on pollinators, including bees, for pollination. Some plants are fully dependent on bees, while others are only partially dependent.
Fully dependent plants include brazil nuts, cocoa beans, kiwi and melons. Partially dependent plants include avocados, coffee and nuts. Other plants that rely on bees are almonds, apples, apricots, blueberries, cotton, papaya, passionfruit, and strawberries.

Take seven steps to help protect the bees! Each step requires 3 books.

There is an optional spell out for each level as well. For spell outs, you may use the first letter of the first word of the title (using or omitting an opening A/An/The), or the first letter of the author's first or last name.

Post your completions in your own thread. You may take as long as you need to complete this challenge.

Sample completion post:

TASK:
BOOK/AUTHOR:
PAGES:
DATE READ:
HOW IT FITS:

Plant a Bee Garden
Keeping a tidy garden may actually backfire for bees. This is because it removes items and sites that are usually used by the insects. Only honeybees form hives, while 70% of the rest of bees nest in the ground and 30% use cracks and crevices as their bee home.

One of the largest threats to bees is a lack of safe habitat where they can build homes and find a variety of nutritious food sources. You can create a safe haven for bees with pollen- and nectar-rich flowers by planting a range of shapes, sizes, colors, and bloom times. You don’t need a ton of space to grow bee-friendly plants — gardens can be established across yards and in window boxes, flower pots, and mixed into vegetable gardens. Seek out locally native plants as often as possible as many bee species have coevolved to feed exclusively on native flowers and need them to survive.

Tasks:
1. Read a book where the MC is not tidy.
2. Read a book with a flower pot, window box or other small garden on the cover.
3. Read a book with the word "crack" in the text.

Optional Spell Out: SAFE HAVEN

REMEMBER: Books completed before July 1st will not count for this challenge.

Task: Read a book where the MC is not tidy
Book/Author: From Daylight To Madness by Jennifer Anne Gordon
Pages: 224
Date Read: 7/4/2024
How it fits: The MC Isabelle had a child that lived only 3 minutes. She descends into madness and no longer keeps herself or her home tidy.

Task: Read a book with "crack" in the text.
Book: Lessons in Chemistry
Author: Bonnie Garmus
Pages: 390
Date Read: 7/14/2024
How it Fits: Pg. 93 - CRACK. From the darkness came a hideous popping sound.

S
The Stranger in the Mirror
Liv Constantine
Pages: 336
Date Read: 6/25/2025
A
The Berry Pickers
Amanda Peters
Pages: 307
Date Read: 6/25/2025
F
If Something Happens to Me
Alex Finlay
Pages: 324
Date read: 5/30/2025
E
Gothictown
Emily Carpenter
Pages: 362
Date Read: 4/25/2025

H
Haven
Mia Dalia
Pages: 336
Date Read: 5/15/2025
A
Other Birds
Sarah Addison Allen
Pages: 290
Date Read: 4/8/2025
V
Lurking on the Tightrope: Mystery at Diamond Head
Van Argan
Pages: 178
Date Read: 5/16/2025
E
The Poppy Fields
Nikki Erlick
Pages: 324
Date Read: 7/2/2024
N
The Night Birds
Christopher Golden
Pages: 304
Date Read: 6/2/2025

Are you doing the 3rd task or do you want me to send you the next prompt now?

I would take the prompt if the challenge is still active. I could not find a small garden on any book I read.

Absolutely it's still active! And don't worry about the small garden. You did a ton on the spell out.


Go Chemical-Free for Bees
Regardless of which flowers you plant, avoid using pesticides and herbicides. Synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, and neonicotinoids are harmful to bees, wreaking havoc on their sensitive systems. A garden can thrive without these harmful chemicals — in fact, one goal of a bee-friendly garden is to build a sustainable ecosystem that keeps itself in check by fostering beneficial populations. If you must use a pesticide, choose a targeted organic product, and always avoid applying pesticides directly to the soil or when flowers are blooming.

Tasks:
1. Read a book by an author whose initials are NOT found in the word PESTICIDE.
2. Read a book where the MC is very sensitive (your interpretation).
3. Read a book with the word "organic" in the text.

Optional Spell Out: SUSTAINABLE

Completion Post:
Task: Read a book by an author whose initials are NOT found in the word PESTICIDE
Book/Author: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Pages: 410
Date Read: 8/13/2025
How it fits: No R or J in pesticide

Completion Post:
Task: Read a book where the MC is very sensitive (your interpretation).
Book/Author: The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands bySarah Brooks
Pages: 373
Date Read: 8/09/2025
How it fits: Weiwei is very sensitive. She was born on the train and that's the only life she knows and as a result she is sensitive to the needs of others and can read people well. She also tends to take things personally.

Completion Post:

Task: Read a book with the word "organic" in the text
Book: The Verifiers
Author: Jane Pek
Pages: 358
Date Read: 9/2/2025
How it fits: Page 5 - research in organic chemistry

Provide Trees for Bees
Did you know that bees get most of their nectar from trees? When a tree blooms, it provides thousands of blossoms to feed from. Trees are not only a great food source for bees, but also an essential habitat. Tree leaves and resin provide nesting material for bees, while natural wood cavities make excellent shelters. Native trees such as maples, redbuds, and black cherry all attract and support bees. You can help bolster bee food sources and habitat by caring for and planting trees. Trees are also great at sequestering carbon, managing our watersheds, and cooling air temperatures.

Tasks:
1. Read a book with the word "essential" in the text.
2. Read a book where a character is a good cook (food source) for other characters.
3. Read a book with a shelter of some kind on the cover (tent, lean-to, etc.)

Optional Spell Out: BLOSSOMS

Completion Post:

Book: A Novel Way To Die
Author: Tamra Baumann
Pages: 294
Date Read: 9/8/2025
Task #2: Read a book where a character is a good cook (food source) for other characters
How it fits: MC is a good book and dreams of opening her own restaurant