How can we help our Bees?
Simple changes and small actions like quitting/limiting pesticides use, creating wildflower areas or simply allowing dandelions to flower in our well-trimmed lawns, can make a big difference. They could have a big impact on bee populations. Here are some tips of what you can do at home to encourage healthy Bee populations.
Gardening & Enhanced Biodiversity
Growing lovely native flowering Bee friendly plants such as Foxgloves and Calendula, herbs such as Lavender and Chives would be a great addition in your garden as pollen rich options. Below are some great links for advice for what to plant in your garden to encourage Bees.
- www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators
- friendsoftheearth.uk/bees/beefriendly-plants-every-season
- beekind.bumblebeeconservation.org/
You can even go that extra mile for further enhancement of biodiversity in your space, and add a variety of pollen rich Natives and wild flowers. Ponds, water stations and nesting spots would make your garden a hotspot for Bees year round. Some things to look to avoid would be…
- Pesticides and herbicides
- Complicated and difficult to access and doubled flowers such as traditional roses
- Over cultivated bedding plants such as pansies and petunias for example, these produce much less pollen and nectar
Create Nesting Habitats
Bee hotels and bird boxes are a great way of encouraging nesting sites for Bees. Some research has found that some bird boxes have been favorited over Bee hotels by Bees. Check out the link below on how to create a Bee Hotel for your Garden!
Learn and Explore
Let’s get educated! It is down to us as individuals and together to educate ourselves and look after our environment. Let us learn and educate ourselves about Bees and what changes need to happen for them to thrive again. ‘The Good Bee’ is an inspiringly beautiful book that is available free to download via Kindle Edition. Here are some useful links for extra knowledge into a Bee’s world.
Collect information
Things like taking part in Bee walks, updating findings on The Bee Walk database adding to its catalogue of recordings and findings of bees, is a huge help to understanding the health and populations of the Bees on the planet today. Educational Apps such as INaturalist App is great for uploading your findings and identify a variety of living species.