Whats the Buzz all about?

This came as a surprise to me, but there are 267 species of bees in the UK. Most of these bees are known as solitary bees (241 species), there are 25 species of bumblebees and only one species of honey bee.

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Solitary Bees

Solitary bees are important pollinators and a gardener’s friend. Help them by building a bee hotel for your home or garden and watch them buzz happily about their business.

Unlike the familiar bumblebee and honeybee, most bees don't make colonies. Female solitary bees spend most their life searching for the perfect nesting sites. Some species will nest in holes in the ground, while others will look for old beetle holes or hollow stems in which to lay their eggs. If you can provide a suitable home, these bees will come to you.

Hang your nest in a sunny spot, sheltered from rain and watch as solitary bees, like the red mason bee, investigate in the spring. With any luck, the females will lay their eggs inside the holes. Each egg is left with a store of pollen for the grub to eat when it hatches. The egg is sealed up behind a plug of mud, in a ‘cell’, and one stem may end up with several ‘cells’ in it. The young bees will emerge the following year, ready to pollinate your garden!

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Bumblebees

Bumblebees provide niche pollination to certain plants and crops such as tomatoes and beans. But they are in decline, with three species already extinct in the UK. Bumblebees are drawn to flowers that are open during the day and are often brightly coloured. Those with shorter tongues need short, open flowers, with nectar within easy reach. This includes flowers from the daisy family and alliums, which have a number of small flowers on one stalk. This type of flower offers a small reward for each probe, but those bumble bees with long tongues can enjoy deeper flowers like honeysuckle, which have significantly more nectar per flower.

Bumblebees live in colonies of 20~ to ~250 individualises. Most of the more common species prefer dry, dark cavities. Nests can turn up in a variety of unexpected places. Some nest underground, in places such as abandoned rodent holes, under sheds and in compost heaps. Whereas, those that nest above ground, make nests in thick grass, bird boxes, lofts and in trees.

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Honey Bees

Honeybees have been domesticated for centuries and it is rare to find a truly wild colony. Our honeybees now mostly live in hives of up to 20,000 individuals, and are commonly found feeding on open flowers they can easily reach with their short tongues. They are particularly found of willows, orchard trees, oil-seed rape, raspberry flowers and other trees, herbs and shrubs.

The honeybee is becoming an endangered species, with the finger of blame pointing in multiple directions. Wild honeybees are nearly extinct in the UK and from 1985-2005 there was a 53 per cent decline in managed honeybee colony numbers. Parasites and disease, climate change and air pollution all have an impact on bee health, but perhaps the most serious of all is the impact of pesticides.

Have you ever considered 'natural' bee keeping? I advise you to think twice before keeping your own honey bees. High numbers of honeybees can actively harm wild bee populations, because they compete directly for nectar and pollen. That’s not a problem when flowers are plentiful, but in environments where resources are limited, wild bees can be out competed. A lack of flowers is one of the main factors behind the decline in bee populations. Initiatives such as urban beekeeping put more pressure on wild bees and worsen the decline.

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Growing a bee and butterfly garden

Aim for a good variety of pollen-rich flowers that have different flower shapes and a range of flowering periods from early spring to late summer and even throughout the winter if you can, this will prolong the nectar season.

Plant wildflowers and native species, these have evolved alongside our native insects and some species tend to favour native wildflowers. Added bonus is that wildflowers are easy to grow and maintain! Some trees and shrubs are also great for bees as they provide masses of flowers in one place. Choose winter and early spring flowering trees such as apple, wild cherry, willow and hazel.

Don't use pesticides! Common insecticides containing neonicotinoids (thiacloprid and acetamiprid) kill bees! Read the label and please avoid using them. Try and attract birds and hedgehogs that will naturally eat away those pests.