Thursday 20 May 2021 marks World Bee Day. Maintaining healthy bee populations is essential to our survival – here are a few ways you can make your own garden bee friendly.
The Importance of Protecting Bees
Bees, alongside other pollinators, face increasing threat due to human activity. We do, however, need bees to survive. They are critical to maintaining a healthy climate and economy.
90% of the earth’s wild flowering plats species depend on animal pollination, as do 75% of food crops and 35% of agricultural land. Without bees, our food supplies would dwindle and global biodiversity would diminish.
World Bee Day, then, aims to “raise awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping”. To celebrate, here are some of the best ways to make your own garden bee friendly.
Plants and Flowers
Time of Year
While we may see them more often in summer, some bees emerge from hibernations in as early as February, while others may be present until November. Therefore, it is vital to have flowers sprouting in your garden all year round.
For winter, winter honeysuckle is recommended while bluebells and forget-me-nots are great for spring. Foxgloves are perfect for summer and cornflower for late-summer/autumn.
Varieties of flowers
Different species of bees are attracted to different flowers, so maintaining a diverse flower bed will create the optimal environment for bees. Honeybees enjoy flowering herbs, like rosemary, whereas bumblebees are more attracted to spring flowers like deadnettle, snake’s-head fritillary, and lungwort
Gardeners World stress that “single, open flowers” are the best for bees. This makes it much easier for the bees to access the nectar and pollen. Double flowers, like most roses, have too many petals for the bees to locate the centre.
Bees can see the colour purple the most clearly, plants like lavender, alliums, buddleja, and catmint are recommended to take advantage of this.
Tubular flowers like snapdragons are ideal for the typical garden bumblebee, which are long-tongued.
Stop Weeding
Lawn clovers and dandelions both attract bees, providing them with pollen and nectar. Letting nature take its course will not only give you a break from gardening, it will encourage bee populations to stick around in your garden.
Avoid Pesticides
While they protect your flowers, pesticides are harmful to bumblebees. Instead, use plants to repel pests: tomatoes deter greenfly and blackfly and planting garlic near roses will keep aphids at bay.
A Place to Relax
Bees can get tired quickly, having a spot for resting will help encourage bees to stay near your garden.
Bee Hotels
Bee hotels are a great way to attract solitary bee species to your garden, thus promoting diversity – plus, they’re simple to make! You simply have to fill a small wooden box with hollow stems – i.e. flower stalks/bamboo canes – that are cut to size. Pop it in the sun and the bees will soon lay their eggs.
Bee Nests
Bee nests are the perfect place for queen bees to hibernate for autumn, ready to emerge in late winter. To make the perfect bee nest, you only need three items: a terracotta pot, moss and hay. Patch the draining hole with the moss, loosely stuff the pot with hay, and half-bury it underground.
Caring for ‘tired’ bees
If a tired bee accidentally makes it into your house its helpful for you to aid them in regaining their strength. Mix equal parts warm water and sugar and place in a bottle cap for the bee to drink.
Don’t have a garden?
The best way to help save the bees when you have limited outdoor space is to support your local bee keepers. They work incredibly hard to maintain bee populations, so buy local honey and beeswax products when you can. Eating local honey can also be a cure for hayfever, so it is a win-win!
Nia Thomas
Featured image courtesy of Jenna Lee on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to the image.
Nia Thomas
Nia is a Gender Studies Masters student at the University of Sussex. Having recently graduated with a degree in Political Science, she is keenly interested in current affairs and stories concerning equality and diversity. Away from writing, she is an avid reader and lover of reality TV.