At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of London, the Earthwatch Institute concluded that Bees were declared the most important living beings on the planet. Bees have been on the decline these past few years, they say the main reason is uncontrolled use of pesticides, this is a substance used for destroying insects harmful to plants or to animals. Deforestation, this is the action of clearing a wide area of trees.

Why do you think bees are important?

Well, we need bees for agriculture! this means working on cultivating crops and plantations, you do this by preparing the land for production of food and goods such as fibres, biofuels, animal feed etc.

We need bees to pollinate! this means to carry pollen to and deposit pollen on (a stigma, ovule, flower, or plant) for fertilization.

A lot of plants we need for food relies on pollination, especially by bees: from almonds and vanilla and apples to squashes. Bees also pollinate around 80% of wildflowers so our countryside would be far less interesting and beautiful without them.

We must protect these hard-working creatures, we should immediately stop the use of pesticides, promote completely natural agricultural and we should carefully monitor the bees health and welfare.

How can you help? Below are a few suggestions:

Providing Food

Bees need a wide range of plants that flower from spring to autumn to feed from. These include:

• alyssum, cornflower, sunflower, michaelmas daisy and sweet william for nectar in summer
• bluebells, rosemary, geranium and honeysuckle
• ivy and shrub willows provide food in early and late parts of the year

Creating shelters

Bumblebees need to find places to nest and hibernate in.

You can help by:

• creating patches of bare earth in warm sheltered spaces for nesting sites
• leaving a pile of stones, dead plant stems, fallen leaves and log piles for bumble bees to hibernate in over winter
• buying a ready-made bumble bee box

Pesticide use

You can help by:

• considering natural alternatives, for example, planting onion, garlic or marigolds
• if you must use pesticides, only spraying in the early morning or evening when the bees and other insects will be less active
• always storing pesticides in a secure, cool dry place and away from small children.