Developers do their bit to protect the bees

House builders in the Midlands are doing their part for the environment by planting flowers and foliage at their developments in Northamptonshire to welcome the bees.

Honeybees are being pushed out of their natural habitats by pesticides, bad weather and new developments and also a lot of wild bees are being wiped out by diseases such as the Varroa mite.

However, bees are a really important factor in our lifestyles; one in three mouthfuls of food we consume are only there for us to eat because of the bee’s pollination. Food such as fruit, chocolate, margarine, mustard and herbs all rely on bees.

As a result of the high demand for food production it has been estimated that we have lost 97% of flower rich grassland since the 1930’s and because of this we have lost two species of bees in the UK. Unfortunately several other bee species are in danger and could become extinct within the UK shortly. The Great Yellow Bumblebee and the Shrill Carder are only present in small numbers.

This has prompted companies to help, such as David Wilson Homes South Midlands (DWHSM) who have planted a range of bee-friendly plants to help support these threatened insects.

Managing director of DWHSM, Chris Hatfield says:

“We want to help raise awareness of the very real threat that British bees are currently facing and do our bit to prevent bee numbers from dwindling.

“The flowers and shrubs we plant in the gardens of our developments will benefit bees most of the year round”.

The things we can do to increase the protection of bees are reducing pesticide use, planting more flowers, bring in quarantine measures when importing/exporting bees and better monitoring of the wild bee population.

By planting more flowers that are rich with nectar and pollen we will welcome more bees and it also looks appealing for homeowners. The best plants for bees are flowers like foxgloves, poppies, hardy geraniums and also heathers and fruit trees as they produce lots of pollen and nectar which is perfect for the bees.

If we all take a leaf from DWHSM’s book and planted a couple more flowers, not only is it more aesthetically pleasing but it will help bring back the bees.

*Back to June 2016 Newsletter*

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