'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
Why it's in our interests to protect our bee population
THE British Beekeepers Association's (BBKA) winter survival survey of 2014/15, a key indicator of honey bee health, shows a continuing improving trend, though losses at 14.5 per cent nationally are still too high, it stated.
This eighth annual survey among its members is to determine the percentage of survival of honey bee colonies through the winter - from October 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015.
The overall colony survival rate was 85.5 per cent (14.5 per cent loss), compared to 90.4 per cent (9.6 per cent loss) in 2013/14 - slightly worse.
The bad winter of 2012/2013 had losses of one in three.
The better figures were put down to the mild winter, but members warned that other threats, such as the parasitic mite Varroa and the honey bee viruses associated with it were unchanged.
And it's not just the honey bee. We're all familiar with the bumblebee, but there are also about 260 species of solitary bee in the UK, often mistaken as wasps or hoverflies.
Crops dependent on bees
If bees go, one-third of the food we eat would not be available - no apples, onions, avocados, carrots, lemons, limes, melon, courgettes, aubergines, cucumbers, celery, cauliflower, leeks, kale or broccoli.
In the UK, about 70 crops are dependent on, or benefit from, visits from bees. In addition, bees pollinate the flowers of many plants which become part of the feed of farm animals.
The economic value of honey bees and bumblebees as pollinators of commercially-grown insect pollinated crops in the UK has been estimated at over £200million per year.
Bees are in danger of disappearing from our environment. Farming practices continue to disturb the natural habitats and foraging areas of solitary bees and bumblebees at a rate which gives them little chance for re-establishment.
EU neonicotinoid ban row
The European Commission voted to restrict the use of three neonicotinoid chemicals in pesticides linked to bee deaths by researchers for two years. This began on December 1, 2013. The UK did not support it - the Coalition argued that the science behind the proposal is inconclusive.
Last year, the UK Government suspended the ban on two neonicotinoid pesticides, which can now be used for 120 days on about five per cent of England’s oil seed rape crop.
The European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) began a review on the EU-wide ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides in January.
Scientists claim they will finish their risk evaluation by the end of January 2017. Restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids remain in place while this review is carried out.
The panel could tighten or lessen the ban on the use of thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid, which was introduced following an Efsa ruling in 2012 that they posed an “unacceptable” danger to bees.
Plight of the (honey &) bumblebee
Habitat's the key
WHAT can we do to ease the bees' plight?
1. Use bee-friendly plants in clumps in sunny places, not scattered about or in the shade.
2. Look for single blooms - avoid double, multi-petalled or pollen-free cultivars, as they may lack pollen and/or nectar, or it may be difficult for bees to reach them.
3. Provide nest sites for solitary bees. Some will nest in hollow stems, such as bamboo canes or herbaceous plant stems. Hole diameters in the range 2-8mm are required.
4. Cardboard nest tubes can be bought in garden centres. Holes 2-8mm diameter can be drilled in fence posts or logs. Place these nest sites in sunny positions.
5. Some solitary bees nest in bare soil or short turf. Bumblebee nest boxes can be bought but are often ignored by queens - they prefer to find their own nest sites in tunnels dug by mice or in grass.
FIVE ways to help our bees:
1. Grow flowering plants that provide nectar all year round.
2. Leave patches of land uncultivated with stinging nettles and dandelions.
3. Cut grass less often - allow clover and daisies to flower.
4. Don't disturb nests and hibernation spots in grass margins, bare soil, hedgerows, trees, dead wood or walls.
5. Don't use pesticides.
I'm a paragraph.
1. SOWING SEEDS: Start off broad beans, peas, sprouting veg, sunflowers and nasturtiums on a windowsill - little ones will be fascinated by life coming from a tiny seed.
2. GIVE THEM THEIR OWN PATCH: Let them grow what they want to - chances are, they'll want wildlife to visit (make sure the plants are non-poisonous).
3. MIXED PLANTING: Put together plants that are beneficial to people and wildlife, such as fruits, vegetables and herbs mixed with shrubs and herbaceous perennials. Sunflowers, strawberries, thyme, herbs and firethorn (Pyracantha) offer nectar, seeds and berries.
4. THINK OF THE BIRDS: Buy (or make) a bird house, feeding station, or a bird bath, placed in the open so cats can't ambush it. Keep feeding birds once you start - they come to rely on specific sources of food.
5. WILD MEADOW FLOWER BED: Sow a mixture of wildflower and grass seeds in a sunny area - you will attract insects, birds, bees and butterflies by providing food and shelter.
6. PLANT ROSES: People love the fragrance and if they get aphids, this is a food source for birds and ladybirds. Birds love hip-bearing varieties, such as Rosa glauca, in autumn/winter.
7. HEDGES: Mixed native varieties create a natural habitat for hedgerow birds. These plants grow quickly and depending on how dense you want them, they can be planted in single or double rows.
8. LOG STACK: Piles of wood/logs are home to some and a larder for other wildlife. Place it in a shady spot so that it remains cool and damp.
9. INSECT BOX: To make one, screw together four lengths of wood and fill with hollow canes of various diameters. Place the box in a sheltered area, and on a fence so the insects can find it.
10. CREATE A MINI POND: Have safety in mind here - all you need is a tub of water about 40cm deep. Fill it with aquatic plants like Nymphaea pygmaea (pygmy water lily) and Callitriche verna (water starwort) which will attract frogs and other amphibians. Use aquatic compost. Place secure fencing around the pond or metal caging on top. Put logs and pebbles around the pond to provide access for wildlife.
10 tips for a child-friendly wildlife haven
SPRING: hellebore (pictured), pansy, Muscari, Pulmonaria, bluebell, bugle, crab apple, daffodil, flowering cherry and currant, forget-me-not, hawthorn, pussy willow, rhododendron, rosemary, Viburnum, thrift.
EARLY SUMMER: Aquilegia, Astilbe, Campanula, comfrey, everlasting sweet pea, fennel, foxglove, geranium, potentilla, snapdragon, Stachys, teasel, thyme, Verbascum.
LATE SUMMER: Sedum, Salvia, Echinacea, Nepeta, Angelica, Aster, Buddleja, cardoon, cornflower, Dahlia (single), Eryngium, Fuchsia, globe thistle, heather, ivy, lavender, Penstemon, Scabious, Verbena bonariensis.
AUTUMN: Agastache (anise hyssop), wild marjoram, Echium vulgare (viper's bugloss), Hebe elliptica, Solidago virgaurea, Valeriana officinalis.
WINTER: Bees could be foraging on any day if the temperature rises to 10C or above: Viburnum tinus, Choisya ternata, Mahonia japonica.
Bee-friendly plants
