Häagen-Dazs giving it away...for the bees

A Flickr Photo

Can you imagine eating this with slightly less guilt?

WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE BEES?!? Those little buzzy things that scared the living daylights out of me when I was younger are disappearing. Not like "slowly declining and let's just kinda worry about it later" disappearing, but "in the last few winters, one in three bee colonies has vanished" disappearing. 

Well, someone is thinking of the bees, and that someone is going to give you free ice cream today. There are about ten Häagen-Dazs stores in the country -- including the one at 1148 Pearl Street in Boulder that will have a beekeeper on hand to talk during Free-bee Scoop Day, when a scoop of any "bee-built" flavor will be free from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m.tonight.Check their website to see if a store near you is participating.

And since over 50 percent of the company's flavors are based on bee production, you will have quite the selection. "Free Flavor Day is one way we give back to the communities we serve, and this year we have chosen to link this tradition with a very notable cause," explains Häagen-Dazs Shops brand manager Julie Michelutti. "The plight of the honey bees is a disturbing reality that deserves our attention. We hope this event will raise a sense of awareness about the predicament."

Because the bees' role in food production -- and not just ice cream -- is vital. "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live," Albert Einstein once pronounced. "No more bees, no more pollination ... no more men!"

Get that free ice cream while you can.