Bees. We can’t live without them, but we all know they are under threat.
To raise awareness of the importance of bees, and other pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN has designated 20th May as World Bee Day.
What were we saying last week about using designated days when writing the blog! They are also a great way of helping us plan our window displays that we like to change each week.
But back to the subject. Obviously, solving global food supply problems and eliminating hunger in developing countries are two very big jobs, but the UN claims that looking after the bees will go some way towards finding solutions for both, and we are inclined to agree.
It’s another of those issues that affect absolutely everyone, so we should all be playing our part in tackling the decline in bee numbers because, yet again, it is the poorest nations that will suffer most if we don’t.
The whole world needs bees and other pollinators in order to grow the food we need, but their numbers are rapidly declining everywhere due to habitat loss, the use of pesticides and pollution. Pollution? That’s interesting, isnt’ it? We hadn’t realised that pollutants break down scent molecules emitted by plants. It reduces the strength and longevity of floral scents, making it harder for bees to detect food. This means the poor wee souls often end up flying further to find food to bring back to their nests.
Another reason for ditching the car whenever possible.
There is so much more to bees than we might imagine. Did you know there are over 270 species of bee in the UK alone? We all know about the bumblebee and the honey bee, but over 268 more? That’s incredible. But, listen to this. There are more than 20,000 species throughout the world. HOWEVER, since 1900 the UK had lost 13 species of bee and a further 35 are consider under threat of extinction.
What to do?