I’ve written about the importance of bees in several Outside the Back Door posts but they are so vital to our existence that I felt we should remind ourselves about why that is, especially as we move closer to our annual harvest celebrations, and also what we can do to ensure that bees continue to buzz happily outside our back doors. Did you know that without bees we would also be without raspberries, apples, pears, beans, tomatoes and many other fruit and vegetables. Equally our countryside would lose many varieties of wildflower.
It is very easy to refer to ‘bees’ when incredibly the UK is currently home to over 250 different species of bee! The honeybee that we’re all familiar with is just one of those species. So the vast majority of bees we see in our gardens and parks are those of the other 249 or so varieties! There are approximately 28 that are commonly seen, including the Garden Bumblebee and the Red-tailed Bumblebee.
I’m pleased to say that, even in the drought, our garden has been buzzing with bees although I’m told that this hasn’t been the case everywhere. I was recently in correspondence with a well-known TV wildlife gardener who was concerned that her Brighton garden was very quiet this year. On the veg plot, the strawberry flowers attract the spring bees whilst the raspberries draw them in later in the summer. That said, by the middle of August the mis-named ‘Autumn Bliss’ raspberries were ceasing to flower despite watering so it’s possible that the impact of the drought on bees has yet to come.
On the flower side, our lavender has been particularly popular with red-tailed bumblebees during July. The echinacea have also been a bee magnet and I have two large pots full of tagetes and heliotrope which seem to be providing a bee larder at the moment. However, it has been scary to see the ever-reliable verbena bonariensis being scorched by the sun. This plant is usually a favourite with both bees and butterflies and will flower from June through till October with its tiny purple flowers constantly renewing in layers. The infamous hot day with 40+ degree heat simply burnt some of mine, turning them brown overnight with no sign that they can renew themselves the way they normally do. This sounds worrying alarm bells. If the flowers we’re encouraged to plant to be ‘bee-friendly’ can’t survive the heat, what will bees live on?
We do have bees in our garden all year round with plants such as winter honeysuckle, hellebores and winter clematis feeding them even in the coldest months. In recent years I have become more aware of the different kinds of bee visiting the garden.
For example, in spring our pulmonaria draws in a small, very loud black bee which I think might be a Hairy Footed Flower bee – isn’t that a wonderful name? Come September our ivy will be alive with what I suspect is the Ivy Mining bee. How do I know this? Recently I became acquainted with the WildID series of laminated leaflets produced by the Field Studies Council. You can purchase these online or drop into the Bushy Park Visitor Centre one weekend and the volunteers will happily sell you some! Unlike a book, these colourful leaflets simply fold out so that you can see pictures of all the common UK bees laid out before you. It makes it much easier to identify something than flicking through a book. I also recommend the butterflies guide as personally I find my butterfly book totally bemusing!
Talking of Bushy Park Ranger, earlier in the summer I was out on one of my Volunteer Ranger duties when my fellow Ranger pointed at some holes in the ground and said, “Ah solitary bees!” So whilst I might be working on my bee identification skills, I certainly don’t know how to spot a nest when I see one!
As with so much of our wildlife bees do need our help. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is working with farmers, local government and other big land owners and managers to ensure bees have access to a greater range of wildflowers.
1. Grow plants across the seasons that will sustain bumblebees.
2. Mow your lawn less and let the wildflowers bloom.
3. Grow your own fruit, veg and herbs, even if it’s just a pot or two.
4. Make space for bumblebee nests such as tangled grass, compost heaps.
5. Tell someone else why bumblebees are important!
Just remember, bumblebees are VIPs – Very Important Pollinators! If you do just one of these things, you will have taken a small action to help biodiversity.
Outside the Backdoor 