Bees, often confused with the pesky wasps are a vital part of our survival on this planet. Although small, they have a huge job – and that’s pollination! Bees collect pollen or nectar from flowers to provide for their colony, but the important aspect to this is that without Bees the pollination process would not take place; which means no growth of plants, flowers and food. This could be critical for farmers who own livestock, as there would be no food to provide for their animals. It could also mean a food shortage globally. If you see a Bee on the ground, it is not necessarily dead! If bees have no easy access to food they can become tired, but many individuals would usually walk past them thinking they are not alive, this introduces them to dangers such as being stepped on, or eaten by predators, moving them to a flower, or providing them with sugar water will make them energised in no time. There has been a massive bee decline in the UK over the last 50 years; this is due to climate change and harmful and toxic pesticides etc… but there are many small ways you can help your local Bees.
Plant Bee friendly flowers
Planting wildflowers creates the perfect place for them to pollinate and collect their food. You can purchase Bee Bombs that can be scattered on the ground, saving you the heavy maintenance of planting regular flowers – all you need is a bit of water to sprinkle them with. Keeping Dandelions in your garden (although not very attractive) makes for another wild flower that will attract bees. If you have plenty of trees in your garden, this could be the perfect opportunity to cut a few down to make space for more bee friendly flowers; so why not get in touch with a Bournemouth Tree Surgeon to help you safely cut down your trees? This will create more space in your garden – although the Tree Bumblebee and it’s colony nest in trees, so you might want to keep one.
Bring little bottles of sugar water with you
Although this has shown mixed opinions; with many saying it can allow Bees to rely too much on people for food sources, It is beneficial to carry around a little sample of sugar water if you’re out and about, (especially if you live in urban areas with little access to flowers) giving a tired bee on the ground a bit of sugar water could be your only option. With Bee numbers declining, it is especially critical that we try and save as many bees as we can.
Stick to Natural Pesticides
You may use standard pesticides or insecticides to get rid of those annoying insects that eat up your plants and flowers, but by using these you are harming Bees too. Toxic pesticides are responsible for a huge amount of Bee deaths, something that many individuals don’t always realise. If you want to create your own harmless pesticides, this article includes many different recipes to create organic and natural pesticides to help you make those changes.
