Bees are wonderful creatures with a history spanning over 100 million years. These hard working insects are known for their exceptional ability to pollinate, which promotes the growth of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, helping to maintain biodiversity and the world’s food supply. Particular to honey bees colonies, their intricate social structures show an ordered society in which every bee has a distinct function, from workers collecting nectar to the queen, who is in charge of procreation.
In addition to their ecological significance, bees provide honey and beeswax, two essential items that have been used by humans for centuries.
Bees make important contributions to nature, but they also face a number of dangers, such as habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change, which makes it more important than ever to understand and protect them.
Why are bees Important?
Bees play a significant role in the ecosystem as they are one of the main pollinators. By moving pollen from flower to flower, while gathering nectar, bees help other blooms develop fruits, seeds and other new plants. Given that a large number of wild plants depend on bees for pollination, this process is essential for both preserving healthy ecosystems and promoting biodiversity. Several plant species would struggle to thrive without bees, upsetting the natural balance of the ecosystem.
Bees are essential to agriculture in addition to maintaining natural environments. They pollinate around 75% of the fruits, vegetables, and seeds that are grown for food worldwide. Bees are essential to the world’s food security, providing larger yields and higher quality produce. Their influence goes beyond only direct pollination, since the plants they pollinate support ecosystems by giving numerous other species food and shelter.
Why do we need to protect bees?
Bees are under threat from a range of dangers including invasive species, destruction of habitats, and the increase in pesticide use. Since bees are essential pollinators, we must safeguard them. Without pollination from bees, food security and biodiversity would be greatly impacted by the disappearance or scarcity of numerous fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Additionally, bees help plants reproduce, which in turn feeds the creatures that rely on those plants, maintaining ecosystems.
One of the biggest challenges to bees is habitat loss, which occurs when agriculture and urbanisation destroy or fragment natural ecosystems, giving bees fewer places to live and fewer pesticide-free flowers to gather pollen and nectar from.
Pesticides, like neonicotinoids, are systematic chemicals that are absorbed into plants potentially killing, paralysing and destroying bees. This also causes harm to bees by interfering with their navigation, foraging, and reproductive processes, which frequently results in colony collapse.
How can you help?
Food chains, agriculture, and ecosystems all depend on the bee population. Thankfully, there are things you can do to support bees in your backyard. Starting a beehive is one of the main ways to directly support bee colonies and aid in local pollination. By becoming a beekeeper and keeping your hive healthy, you’re supporting the preservation of regional ecosystems and the food supply.
Beekeeping is a great option to help bees, but if this isn’t practical for you at the moment, there are other things you can do to help bees, such as planting a range of bee-friendly flowers. To guarantee that bees have a consistent supply of nectar and pollen, select native plants that bloom at different times of the year. Marigolds, sunflowers and lavenders are great options for bee-friendly flowers. Since dangerous chemicals and pesticides can be toxic to bees, make sure you avoid using them near your bee-friendly plants.
Providing a clean, shallow, pesticide-free source of water is another easy way to help bees. Water is essential to bee hydration and hive temperature regulation. To ensure the bees can safely drink, place a small dish of water with stones in it for them to land on.
Summary
Bees are important for pollination, maintaining biodiversity, and maintaining the world’s food supply, which makes it essential to do whatever you can to help these little creatures thrive.
Want to support bees by becoming a beekeeper? We’ve got everything you need to get started, from a beginner-friendly National hive to a breathable, protective bee suit.