BEE HAPPY!

The human race would become extinct without bees. You can help save us by making your garden bee-friendly,

WE all love honey, but in the world of packaged food products it is not very significant financially. And honey is merely a delicious byproduct of the honey bee. Far, far more important is the role the bee plays in pollination.

It has been estimated that 80% of our diet is dependent upon pollination by bees. Without bees, the human race would rapidly starve and probably become extinct. In short, our lives depend upon bees as much as they do upon sunlight. Their steady decline is therefore a cause for real alarm.

There seem to be a number of reasons for the fall in numbers. One is the varroa mite, which has become a major pest, attacking bees at every stage of their life cycle. It sucks the blood of adults and weakens them, in turn making them more susceptible to viral infections.

Add to that the harm done to bees by agricultural pesticides, for which there is increasing evidence, and you have a potentially disastrous situation.

But gardeners can play an important role in rectifying this situation and help nurture and conserve the Irish bee population.

Gardens are always a rich source of food for bees, and with a little care they can be made even better for them without any trouble or loss of pleasure to the gardener.

It goes without saying that you should not use pesticides. Create a garden rich in plants, allow a little gentle disorder and enjoy the privilege of hosting a vibrant bee population.

Bees do best in an environment where there are a range of plants providing a steady supply of nectar throughout spring and summer, with an intense burst of flowering at critical periods — such as an orchard in May or heather on a moor in late summer.

Bees will focus their pollencollecting on an area as near as possible to the hive and will return again and again to a source of nectar for as long as it is available. So plants with a long flowering period are better for them than a short, spectacular harvest.

Honey bees like saucershaped flowers that are easier for their relatively short tongues to dip into, and a 1997 trial at Cambridge University Botanic Garden confirmed that bees have a distinct preference for some plants over others.

The five most visited by them were, in descending order of popularity, musk mallow (Malva moschata), common mallow (Malva sylvestris), lesser scabious (Scabiosa columbaria), cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) and wild clary (Salvia verbenaca). Hollyhocks and evening primrose were also very high on the list. It is a lovely collection of plants, quite apart from the enticement for bees.

Bees also love fruit trees — in fact, any flowering trees — and all legumes, such as peas, beans, clover and sweet peas, as well as dandelions, blackberries, asters, ivy and willow.

To help the bees in their foraging, make sure there are shrubs, hedges or small trees to provide windbreaks and shelter. Leave sunny sites more open and ensure they are filled with nectar-rich flowers for as much of the year as possible. If you notice the flight path of bees — and they make fascinating study— then do not block it with plants or objects.