World Bees Day on 20 May shows how we can save the bee

The world needs bees, your garden needs bees for us to survive and eat – you may think this is a bit dramatic, however, think about it. These little creatures, seen as an irritant by some, are the pollinators of more than a third of all our food crops and about 90 per cent of wildflowers, ensuring they survive and flourish in our ecosystem. 

There has been a dangerous decline across the globe of the bee pollution, happening at an alarming rate and this coming World Bee day on the 20 May focuses on what you can do to save them:

• Make sure your garden, potted patio or balcony is filled with plants loaded with forage or bee food. Bee food consists of nectar and pollen from blooming plants and flowers
• Buy local raw honey. Supporting local beekeepers and their bees will help the environmental health of your town or city in the long run
• Avoid using all pesticides and chemicals in your garden
• Do not kill or swot the swarm. Swarming is a natural process that happens after colonies of bees have outgrown their hive. If a swarm occurs in your garden, contact your local beekeeper or bee association who will collect the swarm of bees to keep or relocate.

Shani Krige from Candide, a free social and eco-conscious gardening app, tells you which plants are the most bee welcoming.

She said, “If there’s one species more than any other that you’d call the gardeners best friend it’s the bee. Through their intuitive cross-pollination system, they keep alive a whole range of plants from flowers and shrubs to vegetables, herbs and trees. And it’s this variety, this biodiversity that creates a healthy environment that can support all living things – great, small and tiny. In nature, everything is connected one way or another and the bee is the single most vital connector.”

If you looking for a specific type of flower and plants that bees love, Krige said people should start with planting either aloes, vygies, clivia, daisies, proteas, ericas, Cape honeysuckle, or rosemary as a start.

To find out more information visit Candide app Facebook page 

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/301958/solitary-mason-bees-dont-need-hive-survive/

https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/247077/where-will-we-be-without-bees/