Bees get a buzz out of weeds rather than wildflowers

WEEDS may be the scourge of gardeners and farmers but they are twice as likely to attract bees than wildflowers, a study has found.

Scientists at the University of Sussex said that weeds including common ragwort and creeping thistle, which councils spend millions wiping out, were better at helping insects than wildflowers and should not be removed.

Researchers observing sites in Brighton found that twice as many insects, including bees and wasps, visited them than nearby wildflower species, which the Government suggests farmers plant to help the environment.

The species are known as “injurious weeds”, meaning landowners have a legal duty to control them because they can affect crop yields and livestock.

Insects preferred the ragwort to nearby red clover and wild marjoram, two species that the Government says help pollinators, amid concerns about falling bee and butterfly populations.

Freedom of Information requests carried out by the university found that councils, Highways England and Natural England, the national nature adviser, spend £10million each year controlling the weeds.

The authors said their results showed that this policy should be reconsidered, arguing it was “alarming” that public bodies were using taxpayers’ money to remove the plants.

Most councils said they would actively remove ragwort, meaning they were treating it in the same way as invasive, non-native species such as Japanese knotweed, the researchers said.

Dr Nicholas Balfour, a postdoctoral researcher at the laboratory of apiculture and social insects at the University of Sussex, said: “There now exists a substantial body of evidence which shows that weeds are a vitally important resource for pollinators.”

He added that the species studied produced, on average, “four times more nectar sugar than the Defra-recommended plant species”.

A Defra spokesman said: “Injurious weeds can pose a threat to animal health through their toxicity.

“It’s important to address these potential risks while also supporting our pollinators, which are crucial for plant health and biodiversity.”