Nectar points

lawn or semi-bare ground – so a green patch of soil can go a long way to keeping them safe over winter.

A really easy way to turn the tides is to spend some time building a bee hotel – see my step-by-step guide at daviddomoney.com

But, to put it simply, it can be done by rolling up a length of corrugated cardboard or you can use hollow stemmed bramble, hogweed or bamboo – any that are about 4mm in diameter.

If you hang your hotel in a sunny spot, bees will lay eggs in the stems over spring and the young bees will emerge the next year.

BEE-LIEVE THE BUZZ

Gardening to help wildlife provides a great incentive to get out there every day, which is really rewarding. Let yourself fall in love with these little bumbling beauties by keeping an eye out for species that visit your garden and getting your kids to join in with a bee survey.

There’s so much to find out about these fascinating creatures.

For example, they can actually recognise our faces.

And it takes the honeybees a staggering 10 million trips to gather up enough nectar for just 1lb of delicious wild honey.

TOP TIPS TO TRY

The most alarming threat to honeybees is the Asian hornet. Go to nonnativespecies.org to flag sightings. Instead of using harsh chemicals, spray aphids with washing up liquid or neem oil. Encourage ladybirds and lacewings which will keep aphid populations in check without harming bees.

Spread the word. If you see neat circular cuttings from your plant leaves, it’s most likely caused by leafcutter bees. They won’t harm plants, so don’t spray insecticides – and, in general, think before you spray.

Also, create a more bee- friendly space by incorporating some hibernating habitats and supply of fresh water. Bird baths are good for bees too.

BEE MORE AWARE

If you want to support the work of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and get tons of great advice about bees, I’ve found the book for you.

Written by trust staff, Bumblebees: An Introduction covers bee biology, their decline and how to help them in your garden in an easy-tounderstand and entertaining way.

It also has an essential identification guide to all UK bumblebee species, packed with over 250 colour photographs.

Just £10 via www.ypdbooks.com