Looking out for our wild bees

by Nigel Stone

We are all familiar with the honeybee and an excellent article by Neil Cook in Chronicles provides a detailed insight into their fascinating lives.

In addition to the honey bee, there are more than 200 types of wild bee in the UK from the largest Bumblebee to some tiny and easily overlooked Yellow-face Bees. The majority of bees are adapted to collect pollen and nectar from flowers and are vital pollinators of orchards and farm crops. Indeed, it is said that a single Red Mason Bee (the type that commonly uses bee ‘hotels’) provides the equivalent pollination effort of 120 worker honeybees.

Unfortunately, the majority of wild bee species are having a tough time and are rapidly declining in numbers. There are many reasons, but the over-riding causes are the loss of flower-rich habitats such as hay meadows that provide food and nest sites, and the widespread use of chemical pesticides, many of which harm bees even though the target is not these beneficial insects.

But, more positively, there is a lot that can be done to help wild bees by those of us fortunate enough to farm land and manage gardens. The excellent book, Gardening for Bumblebees by Dave Goulson provides a comprehensive account of the actions we can all take to help bees and I have had the pleasure of seeing the benefits already in my Chiselborough garden.

First a ‘To Do’ list for wild bees and other insect pollinators (and honey bees will also benefit):

• Bee diverse - plant a diversity of flowering species with abundant pollen and nectar. Observe what attracts bees and grow more of the same – if you see a good bee plant in the garden of a friend or neighbour see if they will allow you to take some to your own garden

• Bee showy - Make sure there is something in flower all year from Spring to Autumn (more on this later)

• Bee bountiful - Grow plants in large blocks, rather than scattered for better foraging efficiency, saving bee’s energy

• Plant in warm, sheltered spots, with a sunny aspect

• Avoid plants with double or otherwise highly modified flowers as the bees often cannot access any pollen or nectar. The nearer the plant is in its general form to its ‘wild’ species, the more attractive it is to bees and other pollinators like butterflies

• Bee chemical-free - pesticides and herbicides kill bees and other pollinators often in miniscule amounts

• Provide areas for bees to make their nests. For example, bee hotels are great for mason and leafcutter bees; mining bees make small nest holes in bare ground; bumblebees often use old field mouse or vole holes, and areas of dense foliage help provide cover.

Which flowers are best for bees?

Bees and other pollinators will do best if they have access to a range of flowers from early Spring and right through Summer and Autumn. This table provides a list of plants identified by Dave Goulson in his book Gardening for Bumblebees and can be used as a guide. You will almost certainly have some of the plants already and can begin to fill in the gaps to provide that long season of bee-friendly flowers.

If you have any plants that you think are particularly good for bees but not on the list, I would be interested to hear about them.

A toxic bouquet?

But one word of caution. Be careful buying flowers from a garden centre or commercial grower. Samples taken by the University of Sussex showed that 27 out of 29 garden centre plants were contaminated with pesticides, even plants advertised as ‘Bee-friendly’ or having the RHS ‘Plants for Pollinators’ logo. Indeed, 76% of the plants sampled contained the neonicotinoid pesticides that are highly toxic to bees and other insects and which can persist at harmful levels in the plant for several years. Other types of insecticide such as pyrethroids and organophosphates are also highly toxic to bees as are some fungicides and herbicides such as glyphosate. So, the best advice is to ask before buying (and if they cannot assure you that the plants are chemical free – don’t buy them) or, better still, go to an organic grower for your flowers.

Of course, this assumes that you are not using any harmful chemicals yourself – sadly, even spraying those aphids or striving for the perfect lawn will build up a toxic load that harms bees and other beneficial insects.

So, I hope this article has encouraged you to ‘think bee’ when planning your garden. The good news is – the less work you put into gardening, the better it will be for the bees!

Here are a few pictures taken in my Chiselborough garden. It’s still very early days for me getting my garden as nature-rich as I would like it to be, but the signs are already encouraging.