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Did you know that bee populations across the globe are severely declining?
In the UK, around one third of honeybee hives were lost in the winter of 2007/08. No one can be 100% sure of the cause, but pesticides, modern agriculture, disease and selective breeding have all been implicated.
Or that bees pollinate a third of the food we eat in the UK alone and contribute £200m a year to the economy through pollination? Bees play a crucial role in pollinating some 90 commercial crops worldwide. If people were to do the work of bees it would require a workforce of over 30 million!
As a responsible business, the Co-operative Group nationally has launched Plan Bee, which includes action on pesticides, research funding and empowering people to take action in their own gardens.
Tying into this national Co-operative campaign the team from Anglia Co-operative in Peterborough have been creating a buzz to help halt the decline in honey bees and bumble bees.
Three working hives have been set up in a specially-designated bee garden at the company’s headquarters in Saville Road, Peterborough and a purpose-built observatory has been erected to study the bees at work.
Schools from across Peterborough are invited to visit the site for a talk from members of the Peterborough and District Beekeepers Association (PDBA) and a close-up view of the bees from the observatory. At the end of their visit schools will also be given a special education pack and a packet of ‘bee friendly’ flower seeds to grow in their own gardens.
Anglia Co-operative staff have provided plants for the bee garden at Saville Road and have rolled up their sleeves to work on it, with the help of expert advice from Kim Andrews, a plant advisor at The Barn Garden Centre in Gunthorpe. The company is also providing the PDBA with a permanent base for the future from which to continue its work, including raising awareness in the community of the plight of the bee.
This is a great resource for Peterborough and a chance to learn all about the importance of looking after our bees. School visits last for about an hour and a half and can be booked by contacting Jill Basson, head of marketing at Anglia Co-operative on 01733 225558 or Chairman of the Peterborough and District Beekeepers’ Association Richard Davies on 01733 349829.
There are a number of things you can do in your garden to make it bee friendly. For example you could plant an area with wildflowers. Bees particularly like Foxgloves, Clover, Dahlias, French marigolds, sunflowers, and Poppies.
You should also try to avoid the use of pesticides in your garden and provide water for bees to drink. This can be as simple as a shallow edged dish of water. Add some pebbles to help the bees climb out.
Visit www.co-operative.coop/ethicsinaction/takeaction/planbee to find out more.
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