p2c May

The theme for May 2021 is World Bee Day, on 20 May.

P2N ‘s mission this year is to foster the well being of individuals and communities, particularly those who live in relative isolation and may be lonely. This is particularly pertinent during a lockdown situation. We hope to do this by encouraging people to be involved in growing plants. Each month we will have a different focus. In May we will be talking about Bees and would like to acknowledge the usefulness of material on the Friends of the Earth website. We will be looking at the relationship between Bees and our environment and why we need to protect them both.

There are more than 250 species of bees in the UK, including the honey bee that normally lives in hives managed by beekeepers. Others, like many species of bumblebees and solitary bees live in the wild. Since 1900, the UK has lost 13 species of bee, and a further 35 are considered under threat of extinction. None are protected by law. Across Europe nearly 1 in 10 wild bee species face extinction. The outlook for bees, right now, is bleak. Particularly vulnerable species include the Bilberry Mining Bee, which collects pollen from just a couple of types of plants and is only known from one site in east England.

The observance of World Bee Day worldwide aims to:

• draw the attention of the world’s public and political decision-makers to the importance of protecting bees;
• remind us that we depend on bees and other pollinators;
• protect bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries; and
• halt the further loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

So what is so important about a little striped insect that stings people, that a whole day is dedicated to it worldwide?  According to 'Friends of the Earth',

“Bees are essential to a healthy environment and healthy economy. We rely on them and other insects to pollinate most of our fruit and vegetables”

They pollinate plants in gardens, parks and the wider countryside, including more than three-quarters of the UK’s wildflowers. They play a critical role in healthy ecosystems, so are essential for our food production. Yet, bee populations are suffering.

Bees are vital to UK agriculture - one out of every three mouthfuls of food we eat exists because of pollinators. Bees pollinate an array of crops, including apples, peas, courgettes, pumpkins, tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries. If we lose bees and other pollinators, growing many types of food would be extremely challenging.

Things we/you can do

You can make a huge difference where you live by doing a few simple things.

• You can make your garden, street and community bee-friendly, and improve your health at the same time. If you have access to a green space, or have a garden, you can grow a bee-friendly haven. Planting wild flowers and leaving grass to grow will create a space where bees can thrive.
• Harmful chemicals are often used in agriculture to get rid of pests in our environment. Bees can pick up these insecticides when they are pollinating and take them back to the hive. This causes declines in the bee populations and can even make it into the honey we eat! If you choose to buy organic honey you are making sure that bees are pollinating in pesticide free areas.
• You can petition the government to take action to protect bees and ban harmful pesticides. In April 2018 countries across the European Union – including the UK – voted to ban the outdoor use of 3 bee-harming pesticides.
• You can encourage your neighbours/ relatives/friends, particularly if they are isolated, to grow bee friendly plants. Make the plants, as well as the bees, your new friends.
• Plant a range of flowers in your garden so bees have access to nectar from March to October. You can use the winter season to plan a garden full of nectar-rich plants that bees can forage come spring. Bees love traditional cottage garden flowers and native wildflowers, like primrose, buddleia, and marigolds.
• If you have space, leave a section of the garden untended – as some bees love long grass, or making nests in compost heaps or under hedgerows. Bees love large drifts of the same flowers. And they look spectacular as well!
• You can also buy (or easily build) an ‘insect hotel’ using hollow stems like bamboo, twigs and string – just tie together a length of these and put them in a hedge or bush, or hang somewhere sheltered to provide a home for bees and other insects.
• Bees are crucial in the countryside but they’re essential in the city too. A wild window box in the middle of the urban jungle has great value. A whole building covered in window boxes is even more useful and looks fantastic.

More background

The proposal set forth by the Republic of Slovenia, with the support of Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), to celebrate World Bee Day on 20 May each year was met with approval by the UN General Assembly in 2017.

There's now overwhelming scientific evidence that neonicotinoids harm bees. Neonicotinoids are a group of pesticides commonly used in UK farming. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) declared in 2013 that they posed an “unacceptable risk” to bees, leading to temporary restrictions.

Here in the UK, habitat loss and fragmentation combined with climate change are having huge impacts on bee populations. In East Anglia – 17 species have gone regionally extinct, and many others are at risk. Local biodiversity is being negatively affected by the changing climate. Bees have to struggle to cope with weather extremes; the shifting of seasons, which become less predictable and weather such as summer droughts, prolonged flooding, cold springs and coastal storms which are more frequent. The rapid changing of seasons means that pollinators may lose synchronicity with the flowering plants on which they forage.

Known causes of bee decline include things that affect us too. These include changes in land use, habitat loss, disease, pesticides, farming practices, pollution, invasive non-native plant and animal species, and climate change. The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and the loss of our wild spaces means that bees do not have the nature they need to thrive. Many of our rarer bumblebee species (Moss Carder Bee, Brown-banded Carder Bee, Shrill Carder Bee) need an estimated 10-20 square kilometres of good habitat to support a stable population but are currently losing that precious habitat at an alarming rate.