Bumblebees
are among the most loved and familiar of garden insects. The sight and sound of
them buzzing from flower to flower is a quintessential part of summertime, but
sadly these charismatic creatures are now struggling to survive. In our modern
world of paved gardens and intensive agriculture our bumblebees find themselves
hungry and homeless.
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The
British based Bumblebee Conservation Trust has issued a nationwide challenge to
help save the sound of summer by planting bee-friendly flowers to help reverse
a decline in their numbers.
Research
has shown that gardens can provide essential habitats that bumblebees can no
longer find in farmland. It is an awful fact that 97% of Britain’s species rich
flower meadows have disappeared in the last 70 years, these meadows were prime
bumblebee habitats and unfortunately much of the countryside is now a desert
for bumblebees.
Gardeners
would be surprised to hear that while bedding plants like Petunias, Begonias,
Busy Lizzies and Pansies might look attractive in the flower bed or window box,
they don’t provide the vital nectar and pollen needed by bumblebees.
Indeed
it is old-fashioned cottage garden wildflowers and herbs such as Lavender, Foxgloves
and Sweet Pea that provide the perfect food for industrious bumblebees to do
their job for all our benefit. Foods such as tomatoes, peas and many types of
beans are reliant on bumblebee pollination. Bumblebees are Britain’s wild
pollinating workforce, without bumblebees the other foods we love to eat, such
as strawberries, apples and raspberries will be far too expensive to purchase,
as farmers would need to import bumblebees, pollinate by human hand or in the
worst case Britain would be unable to produce these crops and would need to
ship them in.””
Lucy
Rothstein, CEO at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, said: “Bumblebees are a
hugely important asset – they play an essential role in British farming and
horticulture.
“By
filling your garden and flower beds with plants that will provide the necessary
nutrients that bumblebees need to survive, you are helping to ensure the
harvest of our British fruit and vegetables year on year.”
Read
more at Click
Green.
Bumblebee image via Shutterstock.