After researching why bees are so important, I wanted to also learn what conservation projects were in place to protect the bees and what could be done to stop their decline.
There are many different bee charities and most of them offer/sell wildflower and bee friendly seeds, the largest part of bee conservation comes from individuals planting flowers and providing the bees with a stable food source to replace the lost wildflower meadows. what is so specific about many wildflower seeds given out by charities is that they flower over a long season, where as most garden plants flower for only a few weeks at a time. A longer flowering period means there is food from early spring, throughout summer and late autumn. This is especially important for bumble bees, whose newly hatched queens must build up fat reserves in order to hibernate throughout winter and emerge again in spring.
Wildlife World also sells a lot of bee houses, and many bee conservation charities give instructions on how to create a bee house, this is somewhere to give the bees shelter and where they can create their nests. With new queens emerging in the spring time, where the weather is cold and unpredictable, these bee homes are a vital lifeline.
Bumblebee Conservation works with farmers from an agricultural angle, encouraging bee friendly farming as well as leaving wilder field margins and using less pesticides in order to allow wild flowers to grow in greater numbers. As well as this they encourage and offer advice on how to create a bee friendly garden, the Partners for Sustainable Pollination offer plaques and certificates for gardens and farms certified to have a bee friendly environment.
All in all, although there are projects set in place it seems the oat important part of bee conservation is the individual, one person can really make a difference. Bees and bee charities rely on people creating bee friendly environments and growing the flowers necessary for bumble bee survival.
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