A TEAM from the University of Reading is set to support next month’s Bees’ Needs Week.
The DEFRA-organised campaign looks to raise awareness of ways people can help the winged insects thrive in the UK.
Experts from the University have provided several tips to help bees and encourage pollination at home. These include: Creating a flower-rich patch in gardens, planting a variety of flowers so pollinators have flowers from spring to autumn, and avoiding using chemical sprays in green spaces.
Setting up a bee hotel, leaving a small patch of bare earth where burrowing bees can dig their nests and putting out window or balcony boxes were also other suggestions put forward.
Prof Simon Potts, professor of biodiversity and ecosystem services at the University of Reading, said: “The sad truth is that bee populations are declining due to habitat loss, harmful chemicals used in insecticides, and climate change.
“Fewer bees means flowers don’t get pollinated and it will be harder to grow fruit and veg in our gardens or allotments.
“Bees buzz about in the background so many people might think they don’t need our support, but there are a lot of things we can do to make bees’ lives easier and help keep our fridges full of healthy food.”
A team from the University will set up a pop-up supermarket at St James’s Park in London on Tuesday, July 11, to support Bees’ Needs Week. DEFRA minister Trudy Harrison MP is set to attend the exhibition.
The supermarket will help people understand the essential role pollination plays in their diet, showing visitors which of their favourite foods depend on bees for production.
The exhibition will also feature a bumblearium, in which members of the public can see pollination in action when dozens of bees are released into a cage full of flowers.
Pollination experts from the University of Reading will also be present to inform people of the actions they can take to help bees to thrive.
