Where’s the buzz?

by Jo-ann Hodgson on 09.05.08

Whether nipping around the garden, bouncing off window frames or producing honey to be drizzled over our fruit, bees are as much a part of the British summer as sunburn, floods and burnt sausages.

They’re so familiar, in fact, that it’s difficult to imagine our world without them.

But that’s exactly what experts are warning could happen. And it’s not just honey that could disappear along with the bees.

Earlier this year Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Lord Rooker issued a stark warning about the future of British bees:

“Bee health is at risk and, frankly, if nothing is done about it, the fact is the honey bee population could be wiped out in ten years.”

Pollination for the nation

Last year saw a worrying amount of bee colonies take their last buzz, with our country’s apple industry and bird population among those in line to suffer if bee health doesn’t improve.

“The pollinating role of honeybees is enormous and far outweighs their importance as honey producers,” says Stephen Fleming from Vita (Europe) Ltd, a company that researches and develops products to maintain the health of honeybees.

“It is estimated that honeybee pollination of UK crops is worth £138.8 million each year. At least 39 UK crops grown for food and seed are pollinated by insects, with honeybees and bumblebees usually outnumbering all other insect pollinators. Some 32 other crops plus many wild plants also need insect pollination.”

An all-mitey problem

Although Stephen says the reasons for the increased losses “are not clear”, the Varro Mite has widely been identified as the main threat. Having arrived in the UK in 1992, the mites, which latch onto bees and suck their ‘blood’, are becoming resistant to treatment.

“Varroa debilitates bees and often leaves them open to all sorts of other ailments, many of which used to have minor effects but are often now proving to be lethal,” says Stephen.

The mild winters we’ve experienced over recent years have been named as another factor in the downfall of British bees. Sudden warm snaps can convince bees that spring has arrived and lure them out of their hives, where they will expend energy trying to find food that isn’t yet there.

The British Bee Keepers Association (BBKA) this year launched a major campaign calling for increased funding for bee research. The British government currently spends £200,000 on research into bee diseases and £1.8million on the National Bee Unit.

However, in light of the recent threats and the risk posed by a mysterious condition currently wiping out huge numbers of hives in America, British beekeepers feel that more must be done.

Bee-friendly gardens

Taking it back to grassroots level, Stephen offers some advice on how to make our gardens more bee-friendly.

“Shrubs like cotoneaster and buddleia, vegetables like beans, nearly all top fruit and many of the less showy types of flowers are often very attractive to bees,” he says.

“It’s also a good idea to plant nectar- and pollen-rich plants that blossom out of the main flowering seasons; that way you’ll see more foraging bees and they’ll be benefiting from an out-of-season food source.”

The Royal Horticultural Society, English Plants and Gardeners World websites offer more advice on what to plant to please the bees.

IMAGES by Flickr users eye of einstein, Todd Huffman and Matthew Verso