Bees pollinate our flowers amd plants which then produce our crops and seeds. It's though that up to one third of our diet is directly dependant on bees with scientists estimating that the pollination service they provide is worth £440million to UK farmers alone. Many plants are reliant on insect pollination however now more than ever the bees need a helping hand from us as the bee population is in a perilous decline.
Studies as to why the bee population is in decline are ongoing but the main contributing factors are
thought to be habitat loss, pesticide use, pests, diseases and environmental change. Since the second world war
97% of all our wild flower meadows have been lost to intensive farming and the bees have suffered significantly
with two species already extinct. And when the bees become extinct the plants that rely on them for polination
face a severe threat of extinction. Worryingly in the spring of 2008 we lost one third of the honey bee
population for an unexplained reason. Fully understanding the complex reasons for the decline are under
investigation with long term, multi-million pound research projects such as the
Insect Pollinators
Initiative.
You might be tempted to think there's not much you can do however collectively our gardens account for approximately one million hectars of land in the UK. Small changes we make can have a significant impact on the bees chance of survival. Bees are adapting to survive in urban areas, it's been reported that honeybees produce more honey in urban Birmingham than in the surounding countryside and one study suggested that urban habitats contained at least as many species of bees as nature reserves. Another study in a single garden in Leicester found a sample of 35% of all known hoverfly species in the UK.
So what can you do in your garden? We've listed a few small changes that you could make.
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