“The hum of bees is the voice of the garden”
Elizabeth Lawrence
We need bees. It is that simple.
Bees may be small, but they are critical workers. They are vital for a healthy ecosystem and a healthy economy. Every third mouthful we eat is thanks to the hard work of pollinators. Without bees, our diets would be dull, poorer and less nutritious.
As they dart from flower to flower, they help boost the colour and beauty of the countryside. Bees transfer pollen between flowering plants. Pollen needs to travel from the flower’s male part, the anther, to the flower’s female part, the stigma. This fertilises the plant and allows it to produce the next generation of plants. Without pollination, plants cannot reproduce and crops don’t grow.
Bees gather pollen to stock their nests. The pollen is like protein for bees and they feed it to their developing offspring. The fuzzier the pollinator, the better. That is why bees are the best pollinators. Honeybees are known to communicate through a waggle dance to locate flower patches. The worker dances to inform the other bees about the distance, direction, and quality of a nectar-rich flower patch.
How do different bees collect pollen?
Solitary bees collect pollen by sticking it to a pollen brush (scopa) that can be on the legs or under the abdomen. Honeybees have smooth bodies, and so collect pollen in little baskets (pollen baskets or corbiculae) on their hind legs. Bumblebees have very fuzzy bodies, therefore, can be completely covered in pollen. However, they still comb the pollen off and store it in pollen baskets. Buzz pollination involves bees vibrating their bodies and buzzing to dislodge pollen that is stuck on a flower.
What are some bee-friendly plants?
- Foxgloves—tubular-shaped flowers are an important source of food for long-tongued bees
- Borage–has a long flowering period and refills with nectar every two minutes
- Lavender—bees can see the colour purple more clearly than any other colour
- Chives—the bunched purple florets are loved by an array of bee species
- Phlox—these flowers produce a strong, sweet fragrance that attracts bees
- Bee balm—irresistible to bees
“If you want to save the bees, plant more flowers, not just for their beauty, but for their survival”
Unknown