Why we should create a buzz about bees
This week has been quite a week for animal news - dogs have been found capable of sniffing out Covid while some animals, it turns out, can breathe through their own rears for oxygen in a medical emergency.
But the story that has been on my mind is news of a bee colony in Scotland being completely destroyed by the firstknown outbreak of American Foulbrood - a disease so destructive that all the colony’s bees and honey had to be burned.
It’s an important reminder of how bees' efforts are regularly blighted by disease, pesticides and human activity.
With World Bee Day in the calendar last week, our news feeds have likely been buzzing with bee content. But there can never be too much - it should be World Bee Day every day.
The impact of the declining bee population extends far beyond a shortage of a few jars of honey. It could have a devastating impact on global food security.
As Albert Einstein was once claimed to have said - “If the bee disappeared... man would only have four years to live.” Imperial College London research confirms three in four crops that produce food for humans depend on pollinators, including bees. They are helping us stay alive, so we should all be doing our bit for them.
Now, you don’t have to strip off and have a Richard Avedon-style photoshoot with bees crawling on you to draw attention to the threatened species, like Angelina Jolie did last week. But you can still do something.
If you have a garden, plant pollen rich plants. Some plants are so artificially selected that they produce inaccessible pollen. Let the garden grow wild - don’t be quick to mow the lawn filled with dandelions, daisies and clover - bees love these.
If you don’t have a garden, tell garden owners to be more bee-friendly. Buy organic products that haven’t been exposed to pesticides known to attack a bee’s nervous system.
All I ask is, when you’re next out in nature, as lockdown has encouraged many of us to do, enjoy it, but have a think about what you can do for the bee too.