NATURE Be friendly to the bee

Be friendly to the bee


Growing
Hans Wieland

For people, who have gardened for many years, it is interesting and sometimes amusing to watch trends coming and going.
As GIY-ing has now established itself on the scene and growing your own food has gone past being a trend, something else is happening: Keeping livestock for food!
It all started with keeping a few hens for eggs. The next stage was often  keeping pigs in the backyard. And now the trend is with keeping bees.
The decline of the honey bee
Bees have been declining at an alarming rate in recent years and Irish beekeepers are struggling to rebuild colonies. The reasons for the decline in bee numbers are complex, and not yet fully understood, but one of the major problems is the use of a range of pesticides, including herbicides which kill off plants which bees forage on.
In contrast, organic farming and growing is based on a system which works with nature, rather than against it, supporting biodiversity, in terms of providing a wide range of plants, insects and animals.
Each plant or animal has a specific role in the life of the farm, and this is especially true of the bee. Bees play a crucial role in pollination, so that we can grow fruits and vegetables. One in every three mouthfuls of our food is thanks to bee-pollination. Without the bees we would not be able to support the wide range of crops and plants on the farm - the two go hand in hand..

A home fit for a bee
Not all bees live in hives, there are the ‘solitary bees’ that live in tunnels in the ground, or in hollow reeds or twigs, or they make nests in holes in wood. These bees are very important because they are ‘oligoleges’- which means that they only gather pollen from a very few species of plants, indeed our most precious and rare wild flowers. Homes for ‘solitary bees’ are thus provided in wooded areas, or log piles and in purposefully ‘neglected’ corners of the farm.
Getting the habitat right for the bee is a pretty exacting task; a bee’s habitat must consist of both flowering plants and suitable nesting sites, all within flight range of each other (with nothing harmful en route). In addition, not all bees like the same plants, so the suitability of the plant species must be compatible with the species of bee.
Some, especially the so-called solitary bees, will visit only one particular type of flower – so as the bees get scarcer, so do their favoured flower. The other factor is the flowering season of the plant must match the foraging, (or feeding), season of the bee. So within flight foraging distance of the bee, (typically a few miles), there must be a range of its preferred flowers, within bloom at varying times from Spring until Autumn.
Organic farms provide the wild spaces at field margins and in hedgerows, providing a diversity of flowers and habitats for bees to nest and shelter. Many Tidy Towns and Transition Towns Committees are beginning to establish wildflower patches or meadows.

How can we help?

• Gardening organically helps the bees by providing food and shelter and not using herbicides and pesticides.
• Make a honey-bee friendly habitat: any outdoor space can be transformed to encourage honey bees. Plant sunflowers, hollyhocks and flowering herbs, grow Nasturtiums and Marigold. If you have space, go for fruit trees and buddleia.
• Start beekeeping yourself. Unless a person is allergic to bee stings he or she can become a beekeeper. But contact your local beekeeping association for information on courses and purchasing equipment first
• Encourage your city, town and village to exploit unused parks to create bee-friendly habitats. Even a few hanging planters will provide valuable food for bees. Lastly and simply - purchase locally produced honey and beeswax to support your local beekeepers.
  
  Hans Wieland is training manager at The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim, which offers courses, training and information on organic growing and cooking, and runs an Eco Shop and an online gardening store. For more information, visit www.theorganiccentre.ie.
  Gardening questions or comments? Contact Hans at living@mayonews.ie.