GIVE BEES A CHANCE
A symbol of summer and an unwitting figurehead for the natural world, the humble honey bee is a creature worth celebrating – and saving
Why the humble honeybee is worth celebrating – and saving
they may be small, but bees play a huge role in our eco-system. Colossal, in fact. They are one of our key pollinators, a group of insects responsible for the production of one third of all the food we eat. As a result, the work they do is worth £200 million to the British economy, and the retail value of what they pollinate is closer to an amazing £1 billion. So widely recognised is their value that, at the end of last year, environment secretary Michael Gove reversed the UK’S position on pesticides that are harmful to bees – switching from opposing an EU ban to supporting one.
There are 250 species of bee native to the UK – these include 24 types of bumble bee, 67 types of mining bee as well as mason bees, leaf-cutter bees and carder bees. But one genus that is in a particularly precarious position – due to the fact that there is only a single kind in the UK – is the honey bee. While all have
Honey bee colonies are now dependent on beekeepers for their survival
experienced a decline in recent years, honey bees have been hit particularly badly, with populations in England falling by 54 per cent between 1985 and 2005.
This drop in numbers is made somehow sadder by the fact that our relationship with the honey bee goes back a long way. People have been presiding over hives for more than 8,500 years; before that, it was a dangerous game of smoking out wild colonies and stealing their honey (earliest evidence of this dates back some 25,000 years). So ancient are these insects, the earliest recorded bee, found in Myanmar, is thought to be more than 100 million years old. Since then, bees and plants have evolved in near perfect symbiosis – until recently.
UNDER THREAT
A number of things have contributed to the decline of the honey bee (and bees in general) during our lifetime. The loss of wild-flower habitats is one – in the UK, 97 per cent of these have disappeared since the 1930s. Use of pesticides is another – research has shown that in Germany there has been 75 per cent decline in insect life in the past 27 years for this reason. Neonicotinoids, in particular, are believed to damage the central nervous systems of bees, affecting their ability to navigate and forage. But the biggest challenge they’ve faced by far is the deadly varroa mite. Originally from Asia, this parasite has slowly spread across the world, arriving in the UK in 1992. Specifically targeting honey bees, it attaches to their abdomens, feeding on their blood. This weakens them and makes them more susceptible to viruses and fungal infection, and, as a result, can cause entire colonies to fail.
These combined elements have collectively had a devastating effect on the British honey bee population. In 2014, a study conducted by the University of Leeds discovered that there are unlikely to be any wild colonies left in England or Wales, which means that they are now entirely dependent on beekeepers for their survival.
A UNIQUE FOODSTUFF
Even if they didn’t play an invaluable role in our ecosystem, these tiny insects would still be one of our most remarkable native creatures because of the unique byproduct they produce. Gathered by humans since the Mesolithic times, honey is one of the most energy-dense foods in nature – and the only one produced by insects that we consume. It also has a phenomenal shelf life: at 3,000
years old, the world’s oldest sample – discovered by archaeologists excavating an Egyptian tomb – is still edible. Honey is said to possess a huge array of health benefits: certain varieties are proven to be antibacterial (manuka honey is known to kill antibiotic-resistant infections), others are well-known cough soothers, and many people swear by local honey as an antidote to allergies. However, while we think of honey as being an innately ‘natural’ food, unless specified, many of the varieties found on supermarket shelves have been processed – pasteurised to preserve liquidity and destroy pathogens or homogenised to remove pollen. They might also have been bulked out with sugar syrup. To get the maximum nutritional benefit, look for ‘raw’ honey, which hasn’t been treated with heat and is therefore still full of pollen, enzymes and antioxidants. Heat also destroys many of the delicate flavours in honey, so untreated options may reward you with a better taste.
The flavour and texture of natural honey can vary hugely, depending on the plants the bees have fed upon. Heather often produces a distinctly floral aroma and can be soft set, while acacia or orange blossom honey is usually lighter in taste and colour. That derived from pine forests tends to be amber with a stronger flavour, while lavender honey is noticeably perfumed.
HOW WE CAN HELP
Even if you’re not a beekeeper, there are still things you can do to help protect and support the honey bee. Growing bee-friendly flowers – even a pot on a windowsill – is a valuable contribution (see left for suggestions). As well as sustenance, bees need plenty of shelter. This can be provided by an uncut lawn – even if you favour a bowling green garden, experiment with allowing one corner to grow wild, or raise the notches of your lawn mower so it leaves the grass slightly longer. Perhaps most key, though, is reducing the use of chemical pesticides, which kill off the helpful and endangered insects as well as the troublesome ones. Try experimenting with natural alternatives such as companion planting, which can also provide bees with extra forage material.
It’s also important to support your local beekeepers (you can find yours at bbka.org.uk) by purchasing honey and other bee products from them. Another way you can help is by monitoring bee populations through Friends of the Earth’s Great British Bee Count 2018, which runs from 17 May to 30 June this year. See friendsoftheearth.uk/bee-count to find out more.