Top Bee Friendly Products for This Spring

I was brought up to love bees (most insects, really) and to appreciate the work they do for us and the environment – in fact, bees are one of the reasons this blog is named Honey & Blossom. It definitely helps when you hark from a traditional farming family in Spain. My family worked the land by hand for generations, only with the help of animals. The importance of respecting the crops, animals and the insects that all played a part in the farm’s survival, was understood and appreciated. However, as anyone who has enjoyed an al fresco lunch at a British pub also knows; they can instantly send people screaming and flapping across a beer garden in terror.

Why are bees important?

Love them or fear them, we should definitely at least try to keep them safe. The part they play in our food chain and the natural world is too vital to ignore. Around 90% of all wild flowering plants in Europe rely on bee pollination, plus around 35% of the crops we eat. What is most worrying, alongside the long list of other nature crises we currently face, is that bee populations across the world are dropping dramatically year on year, with some even becoming extinct. This is due to wild flower meadows giving way to agricultural land, climate change and the indiscriminate use of pesticides which are decimating, to name a few.  It’s not just terribly sad that they’re dying, it’s also having an impact on our ability to grow food, as well as upsetting the balance of our natural world.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. There are plenty of things we can do to reverse bee decline. Here is our curated list of lovely bee friendly solutions to help you attract bees to your garden and help them thrive, this Spring:

Plant Wildflower Seeds

97% of the Britain’s ancient wildflower meadows have been removed to make way for intensive farming and agriculture. Lack of food and habitat is the biggest contributor to bee decline worldwide. But by leaving part of your garden free to grow wildflowers, or even a planter or pot, you can help feed hungry bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects by creating a small ecosystem in your garden.

We just love these little bee friendly wildflower seed grenades from Kabloom, because their 7 varieties of wildflower look stunning and they’re so easy to sow (add water, shake, throw!). And an incredible 10% of all Pollinator Beebom sales go to The Bumblebee Conservation Trust. The packaging is 100% biodegradable and these wildflower mixes are pet safe!

BUY THESE – Kabloom ‘Pollinator Beebom’ – Bee Friendly Seedboms

You can mix and match different kinds of Kabloom wildflower seed mixes but, as far as the bees are concerned, the more the merrier! If you want to attract even more pollinators like butterflies and birds, go for this Kabloom Seedbomb Gift Set of 4 – Birds, Bees & Butterflies. With a huge mix of 25 wildflower varieties, your garden will soon be buzzing with activity!

BUY THESE – Kabloom Seedbom Gift Set of 4, Birds, Bees & Butterflies

There are lots of plants and flowers that bees love, but by choosing native wildflower seeds to your country or climate is best, as they won’t intrude on other indigenous species.

Add a Bee House to your Garden

We tend to think of bees as busy, social insects that live in colonies. In reality, there are over 250 species of solitary bees in Great Britain alone! Solitary bees are ideal to attract to your garden because they won’t swarm and are safer around children and pets because they are not aggressive and therefore less likely to sting. These bees are fundamental to our environment, but often struggle to find safe places to nest, especially in cities or built up areas, with less green spaces.

If you want to do more to attract solitary bees to your garden, you can offer them a luxury lifestyle in this traditional style Ernest Charles Bee Hive for your garden or balcony. This popular bee house will give bees and other solitary insects a safe place to return to throughout the seasons. Ensure your garden has a steady supply of happy bees to pollinate your plants and flowers. If you need even more reasons to love this bee hotel, it’s also made from certified FSC timber and its layers can be taken apart to see how bees and other insects live.

BUY THIS – Ernest Charles Bee Hive

If you’re less of a ‘country bumpkin’ and prefer a more contemporary design, this Urban Bee Nester Box from Wildlife World is for you. It’s also made from FSC certified timber and recycled materials and it comes with keyhole hanging points. Check them out here >>

BUY THIS – Urban Bee Nester Box by Wildlife World

Make Sure Bees Have Water

With climate change reducing rainfall and raising temperatures in Spring and Summer, it’s more important than ever to provide water for wildlife in our gardens. Tired bees can die if they don’t have access to fresh water, especially when it hasn’t rained for a few days. You can do is leave a shallow bowl outside with some partially submerged stones in so that insects and birds can drink safely.

This eco-friendly bird bath makes a stunning addition to any leafy flower bed, patio or balcony. They are made from recycled materials and come with a 10 year guarantee. You can get your hands of one of these stunning pieces, here.

BUY THIS – Coniston Bird Bath by Wildlife World

Learn More About Bees and other Pollinators

If you want to commit to doing as much as you can to help bees, the best thing we can do is learn and understand more about their habitats, how they impact our environment and what they need to survive. I have been following Biology Professor @DaveGoulson for a little while now, who posts an endless supply of fascinating snippets of knowledge about bees. The more we can learn from passionate academics like him, the closer we’ll be to really valuing insects we mostly ignore and taking more responsibility for protecting their environment.

Probably his most popular book, the Sunday Times bestseller, A Sting in the Tail, which combines a wealth of knowledge with life stories and anecdotes as well as Goulson’s personal mission to save British bumblebees.

BUY THIS –  A Sting in the Tail, My Adventures with Bumblebees by Dave Goulson

His new book, The Garden Jungle or Gardening to Save the Planet, promises even more insight into the insects that live right under our noses in our gardens and what we can do to help them thrive. It is now available to pre-order on Amazon.

BUY THIS – The Garden Jungle or Gardening to Save the Planet by Dave Goulson.