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Bees                                                      Bee-friendly pollination and flowers



 by MICHELLE KIGHT
                                              Bumblebees are very              decline continues, the
 With warmer weather comes the                important for pollinating        extremely high cost of
 inevitable buzz of spring and summer:   Did you know?   wildflowers and fruits: many   pollinating these plants
 the bumblebee.                               commercial crops such as         by other means could
 Dandelions are often the first               tomatoes, peas, apples and       significantly increase the
 Currently, there are 24 species   source of food for bees in a new   strawberries, are helped   cost of fruit and vegetables
 of bumblebee in the UK, just one   season, so don’t use pesticides on   by pollinators and insects   (hand-pollinating British
 species of honeybee, and over   them. Save them and give our bee   are estimated to contribute   crops has been estimated to
 250 species of solitary bee.  friends an additional boost at the   over £600 million per   cost £1.8 billion annually).
 start of the year.                           annum to the UK economy.
 Eight species of bumblebee                                                    You can help by planting
 (a third of those remaining)                 The Bumblebee                    flowers like borage,
 are currently listed on at least             Conservation Trust warns         hellebore, lungwort, comfrey
 one of the English, Welsh and   Tree Bumblebee  that, if the bumblebee        and catmint in the shade,
 Scottish conservation priority                                                whilst herbs, crocuses,
 species lists due to their                                                    lavender, geraniums,
 large-scale declines in                                                       honeysuckles and sunflowers
 distribution.                                                                 are perfect food for bees in
                                                                               the sun.


 Did you know?                                                                 Don’t forget to check toxicity
                                                                               of flowers before planting
 The spring temperatures                                                       as some varieties can be
 awaken hibernating                                                            harmful to pets and children.
 queen bees. After she
 wakes and feeds, she                                                          Certain plants have flower
 starts to look for a                                                          shapes that bumblebees
 suitable nest site.                                                           cannot use - some flowers
 This can be anything from                                                     have petals that form long
 a hole in the ground to a                                                     tunnels which are too long
 bird box, or even under a                                                     or narrow for the bees to
 garden shed.                                                                  feed from. Similarly, flowers
 Tree Bumblebee  Red-tailed Bumblebee       Buff-tailed Bumblebee              with multiple tightly packed
                                                                               heads offer bees very little
 Seven species of bumblebee   According to the Bumblebee   Bumblebees only feed on   They say: “Pollinator-friendly   “Wild bees – bumble and   accessible food.
 (the ‘Big Seven’) are   Conservation Trust, declines   flowers, requiring enough   gardening is very important   solitary bees – are therefore
 widespread across most of   in our bumblebee populations   flowers to sustain a colony of   whether you have a balcony,   essential for pollination and   Other flowers may not
 Britain, including the Rochdale   have occurred mainly because   hundreds over several months.   a window box, a big garden, a   food production.”  be suitable because they
 borough, and can be seen in   of large-scale changes to   Rarer species don’t venture   road verge or a park.  produce little or no pollen
 your local gardens and parks:   countryside management,   far to forage, needing large   and nectar, such as pansies
 red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus   including a public demand for   quantities of diverse flowers to   “Although people often   Did you know?   and double begonias.
 lapidarius), early bumblebee   cheap food, a constant demand   sustain their colonies.  champion honeybees, which
 (Bombus pratorum), common   for food and crops, not to   are mainly domesticated,   Bumblebees won’t die   You should avoid using any
 carder bee (Bombus   mention less wildflowers.  The Bumblebee Conservation   the honeybee only visits a   if they sting you, unlike   pesticides in your garden.
 pascuorum), white-tailed   Trust, a charity dedicated to   proportion of plant: recent   honeybees.   They are often labelled as
 bumblebee (Bombus lucorum),   97% of flower-rich meadows   increasing the numbers and   research showed about 7% of   Whilst bees are not   ‘bug killers’ or something
 buff-tailed bumblebee    have been lost since 1937,   distribution of bumblebees,   flower visits were honeybees   aggressive, it’s only   similar, but almost all of
 (Bombus terrestris), garden   just one action to have   says the easiest way to help   across gardens, parks, road   female bees that can   these can harm bumblebees,
 bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)   detrimentally affected   our bumblebees is to plant   verges, nature reserves and   sting, as male bees do   even if you don’t intend to
 and tree bumblebee   bumblebee numbers.  wildflowers to flower between   crops.  not have a stinger.  harm them.
 (Bombus hypnorum).  March and September.

 REAL ROCHDALE - SPRING 2020  32                           33                     REAL ROCHDALE - SPRING 2020
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