How you may help bees survive in your garden

We can make sure that bees’ basic needs are met – food, a nesting site and somewhere to overwinter. Bees like undisturbed environments. Leave some untidy areas around farms and in gardens. Leave tufts of grass or moss and old sticks. If you are a farmer, leave a few old bales of straw. Make sure there are plants flowering throughout the season. Bumblebees and honeybees are active all season, whereas solitary bees have a shorter lifespan, around one month, and different species follow on from one another. They often have more specific requirements of their environment – some collect pollen from only one type of flower and are therefore more vulnerable.

Text: Pia Romare

Published: 2014