As it is clearly shown by many studies, taking up beekeeping and producing honey from the beehive is not the real answer in saving the wild bees although the art of beekeeping and producing honey is good for the general health of people as it has been proven that honey is beneficial for healing and maintaining the general health condition of the human body.
What has also been proven time and time again is that wild bees are the most productive bees in the contributions of pollination which is sustaining the human food chain supply.
Therefore, NGO Charlie and Lola want to be an agent in helping to sustain and save the wild bees around the world.
As the NGO has an important credo, we work with in all of our projects ‘ Bringing people and animals together to save this planet we are all living on ‘, the NGO created a project to make every garden, local park and every farming area a place for helping to save the wild bees and sustaining their living environment which in return will bring better and more crops through increasing pollination by wild bees. And this way animals are helping people to survive. It clearly shows us that all is a balance. Save animals and our planet by one small act and humans receive this wonderful planet to live on in return.
People and animals are here together on this planet and this planet is a place for all of us and mother nature shows us time and time again. We need to work hand in hand in sustaining this planet called earth and even making it a better place by harmoniously working together.
So, spreading these bee hotels around different countries and being an active agent in saving the many wild bee species is a perfect way to move forward in a positive way for our planet and preserving this earth for many generations to come.
As an NGO we go around cities, farms and private gardens and supply the communities, the farmers and volunteer garden owners with our raindrops for bees.
The raindrop was chosen as a symbol, every raindrop on this earth is a raindrop for life so the raindrop bee hotels are symbolically drops of water to save the planet.
We have created our own special NGO Charlie and Lola raindrop bee hotel referring to these drops of water for saving the wild bees, our planet we are responsible for and the future generations who need to be able to be born, to live and to thrive on this planet.
HOW CAN YOU HELP US TO SAVE THE WILD BEES THAT ARE SO IMPORTANT FOR THIS PLANET?
Sponsor us by ordering from our web shop the articles and experiences while on vacation so we are able to build as many bee hotels as possible and deliver them to garden owners and farmers around the world.
In the coming year, NGO wants to be able to deliver at least 100 000 bee hotels in various locations around the world as there is no time to waste for active change in saving the wild bees..
The endangerment of wildlife bee habitats
Over the last few decades, universities and the United Nations have extensively documented the pivotal role that bees play in maintaining the ecological balance of our planet. Tragically, bees along with other vital pollinators like butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds, are facing an escalating threat due to human activities.
Global bee populations have experienced a significant decline in recent decades, primarily attributable to several factors. Habitat loss, driven by urbanization and industrial expansion, has restricted the natural spaces where bees thrive. Intensive farming practices have exacerbated the issue, altered landscapes and limited the availability of diverse flowering plants that bees depend on for sustenance.
Moreover, changes in weather patterns, potentially linked to climate change, have disrupted the delicate balance of ecosystems, impacting the availability of nectar and pollen. The excessive use of agrochemicals, notably pesticides, poses a particularly dire threat. While designed to protect crops, these chemicals inadvertently harm bees, impairing their health and reproductive capabilities.
A concerning consequence of declining bee populations is the potential harm to various plants essential for human well-being and livelihoods. Bees, through their pollination activities, play a fundamental role in the reproduction of flowering plants, ensuring the production of fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
The decline in bee populations jeopardizes this intricate web of relationships, raising concerns about food security and the sustainability of agriculture.
In addition to these well-documented challenges, there is a growing awareness of the impact of air pollution on bees. Preliminary research indicates that air pollutants interact with the scent molecules released by plants, disrupting the ability of bees to efficiently locate food sources. This interference results in mixed signals that impede bees’ foraging efficiency, making them slower and less effective at pollination. As urbanization and industrial activities continue to contribute to air pollution, this additional stressor further compounds the threats faced by bee populations.
It’s crucial to note that while the majority of pollinator species, comprising over 20,000 species of bees, are wild, human activities like mass breeding and large-scale transport introduce risks. The transmission of pathogens and parasites becomes a significant concern in these artificial environments. Recognizing these risks, the well-known IPBES report highlights the importance of better regulating the trade of pollinators to minimize the unintentional harm caused by these practices.
Addressing the multifaceted challenges confronting bee populations requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach. Efforts should include the preservation and restoration of natural habitats, sustainable agricultural practices that minimize the use of agrochemicals, and measures to mitigate air pollution. Public awareness and education campaigns can also play a crucial role in fostering a deeper understanding of the intricate connections between pollinators, plant life, and human well-being.
By taking decisive actions today, we can work towards ensuring a healthier and more sustainable future for both bees and our planet.
A bee hotel is a structure designed to provide nesting spaces for solitary bees and wasps. Similar to a birdhouse, bee hotels offer a safe and secure environment for these beneficial pollinators to lay their eggs and raise their young. These insects typically nest in hollow plant stems or holes in dead wood, so bee hotels mimic these natural habitats.
Maintaining a bee hotel involves regularly cleaning out old nests and providing fresh nesting materials. This helps to ensure that the bees have a clean and healthy environment in which they reproduce. By caring for a bee hotel, gardeners can attract a diverse array of pollinators to their yard, ultimately leading to increased biodiversity and a more productive garden.
Overall, bee hotels are a simple yet effective way to support pollinators and contribute to the health of the ecosystem. By placing these raindrops, individuals can make a positive impact on their local environment while enjoying the beauty of these fascinating creatures.
The Benefits of Bees
Bees play a crucial role in the reproduction of plants, including many fruit and seed-producing species that we rely on for food. While bees are responsible for only a small percentage of our overall food supply, they are essential for the pollination of numerous fruits, nuts, and berries that are packed with important nutrients like vitamins A and C.
Bee pollination also has indirect effects on our food system, such as increasing the yield of alfalfa, which is a vital forage crop for livestock like cows raised for milk or meat. Without bees and other animal pollinators, our food supply would be diminished, less diverse, and lacking in important nutrients. Although staple crops like wheat, corn, and rice are wind-pollinated and do not rely on bees for reproduction, many other crops that contribute significantly to our diet and health would suffer without the help of these important pollinators. In conclusion, bees are crucial for ensuring a plentiful, colorful, and nutritious food supply.
Native Bees Are Effective Pollinators
Honeybees are essential pollinators in commercial agriculture, but they do not utilize bee hotels. Nevertheless, native bees and other animals also play a crucial role in pollination and can even enhance the process when honeybees are present. Depending on the size of the agricultural operation, native bees can be sufficient for pollination requirements and may be more effective than honeybees for certain crops. For instance, a group of 250-300 blue orchard bees can pollinate the same amount of land that would require 1-2.5 strong honeybee hives, each containing around 30,000 bees.
Native bees exhibit a range of dietary preferences, making them effective at pollinating a wide variety of plants. Some, like bumble bees, are generalists that forage on different plants throughout the year. Others, like the squash bee, are specialists that gather pollen exclusively from certain plant species, such as squash and pumpkins. This diversity in dietary habits allows native bees to play a significant role in maintaining plant populations and promoting biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.
We need bees not just on our rural farms, but with us in the cities and suburbs where most people live. Urban farms and community gardens are growing in the US (Santo et al. 2016; Armar-Klemesu 2000; Leake et al. 2009; Langellotto 2014; Wortman and Lovell 2014; Taylor and Lovell 2012; Lovell 2010). Moreover, many plants in parks and ornamental gardens also rely on insect pollination. Urban pollination is threatened by overall bee decline and by mismatches in pollinator supply and demand across urban landscapes (Zhao et al. 2019; Potter and LeBuhn 2015; Irwin et al. 2020).
Urbanization itself can have complex effects on bee populations. On the negative side, pavements, rooftops, and flowerless lawns can replace and fragment pollinator habitats. On the positive side, urban yards and green spaces can provide flowers and nesting habitats that support a surprising diversity of pollinators—often more than rural agricultural areas but less than natural areas (Wenzel et al. 2020).
Enhancing bee habitat in urban parks, gardens, and yards may contribute to overall pollinator conservation, while supporting needed pollination services in the city. These conservation actions are critical in North Carolina, which includes some of the most rapidly urbanizing parts of the country (Terando et al. 2014; Homer et al. 2015).
Bee hotels support populations of solitary bees and wasp species where nesting habitat is limited. Native bee populations depend on suitable nesting sites, materials for nest construction, and food resources for themselves and their developing brood—all located nearby, within a bee’s foraging range (Gathmann and Tscharntke 2002). The size of that foraging range depends on the size of the bee. While honey bees and larger bees, such as carpenter bees, can fly several miles from their nesting sites, smaller bees tend to stay close to home, likely within just a few city blocks (Gathmann and Tscharntke 2002; Zurbuchen, Cheesman et al. 2010; Hofmann et al. 2020). Solitary bees (bees that live alone, rather than in a colony) commute between foraging sources and nests multiple times per day (Zurbuchen, Cheesman et al. 2010). The farther the commute, the less time a mother bee can actually spend collecting pollen to feed her offspring (Zurbuchen, Cheesman et al. 2010; Peterson et al. 2006), and the more time her nest spends unguarded and vulnerable to parasites (Seidelmann 2006). Several studies suggest that bee populations or pollination services can increase when nesting resources are added to a habitat (Pitts-Singer and James 2008; Cane 2002; MacIvor 2016).
Not only can bee hotels support native bee and wasp populations, they are also entertaining and provide opportunities to learn about pollinators up close. By installing these nesting sites in our yards or parks and observing their residents, we can learn about native pollinator diversity. Bee hotels are also incorporated into some citizen science projects and create an opportunity to assist with research on bee ecology and behavior.
How Bees Use a Hotel
Bee hotels are home to solitary occupants, unlike honey bees or bumble bees that live in colonies. Each nest is managed by a single female bee who takes care of her own offspring without the help of workers or a queen. She constructs separate chambers within the nest for each egg, with the oldest offspring at the back. The mother bee continues to build new chambers and lay eggs throughout her lifetime, often using more than one nest tunnel.
Some species have one generation per year, with adults actively nesting for only a few weeks before the nests appear inactive. The offspring remain inside, waiting for the right time to emerge the following year. The nests are sealed with plugs made of leaves or mud when occupied.
The mother bee lays female eggs at the back of the nest and male eggs at the front. Males, being smaller with a shorter development time, emerge first, allowing their older sisters to follow suit.
Each species of bee requires a specific tunnel diameter and uses different materials like leaves, resins, or mud to modify the nest interior. Understanding these requirements can help attract desired bee species to the bee hotel. Providing the right nesting materials nearby can also encourage bees to use the hotel for their offspring. By following these guidelines, one can create a beneficial habitat for solitary bees and other pollinators.
Article https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/chelsea-flower-show/we-have-been-saving-the-wrong-bees/
You wouldn’t get a cat to save the tigers, or keep chickens to help save the birds, so why are so many people taking up beekeeping in a bid to save the bees?
I think I’m well qualified to answer this, because 15 years ago I fell for the narrative too and took up what I thought was the perfect ecotopian hobby. I wanted to help “save the bees”. But I discovered that keeping bees was not the answer, and that it’s not the honeybee that needs saving.
I learnt a lot from the honeybees; that although they are the only species in the country that make honey, there are an incredible 280 other species of bees within the UK. I learnt that honeybees are not the best pollinators; that one mason bee does the pollination work of 120 honeybees; and that unlike our honeybees, it’s our native bees and other pollinators that are in trouble. I also discovered that school children are almost always only taught about honeybees and sadly have little understanding of the vital role of other insects.
A garden bumblebee on a camassia plant CREDIT: John Lawrence
Today I still have a huge love and respect for honeybees: they were my stepping stone into the wonderful world of pollinators. But living with them opened my eyes to the reality that saving the honeybee does not help our wildlife, and diverts attention away from our wild pollinators.
“There is plentiful evidence that honeybees can out-compete our wild pollinators, taking much of the available pollen and nectar, particularly when large numbers of hives are kept together,” explains Dave Goulson, an author, renowned scientist and professor of biology at the University of Sussex, specialising in the ecology and conservation of insects, particularly bumblebees. “Bumblebees tend to be smaller in areas where there are plentiful honeybees, and their nests grow more slowly. Honeybee hives can also spread diseases to wild insects, such as deformed wing virus.”
Save the right bees
“Although the call to save bees has captured public imagination, the message has been oversimplified so that we typically only think of saving honeybees,” says Phil Stevenson, head of trait diversity and function at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
“In fact, we should protect all our pollinators and highlight the importance of wild bee species, not just honeybees, and even raise awareness of the potential harm caused by too much beekeeping in some urban settings. Wild pollinator populations across the board are in decline, whereas honeybees have become the dominant species, which has led to a degree of competition over access to food between the two. Unfortunately, evidence suggests honeybees now have the upper hand in cities.”
City life
Central London is buzzing for all the wrong reasons. The number of honeybee colonies in the capital has more than doubled over the past 10 years, and continues to rise. Data from the London Beekeepers Association (LBKA) shows that in some areas there are more than 50 honeybee colonies within one square kilometre. That’s 50 times what is considered to be a healthy density.
As a result, the LBKA has issued a London Bee Situation statement, and is calling for a broader and more balanced and responsible interest in bees – all bees – and other pollinators.
Jean is an expert on bees and has recently written a book on the subject CREDIT: John Lawrence
“It’s not the honeybee’s fault that we are in the situation we’re in, it’s a man-made problem,” explains Mark Patterson of the LBKA. “We’ve changed the landscape, reduced the floral resources, meddled with the bee’s biology, morphology and behaviors through breeding programmes, and forced them to live in thermally inefficient, resource-costly, manmade boxes.”
According to his colleague at the LBKA, chair Richard Glassborow, “Much of this situation has arisen through the mistaken ‘honeybee decline’ narrative, which is often shortened to ‘bee decline’. Many people start keeping honeybees to help bees, but honeybees are not in decline and never have been. This is a biodiversity issue as well as an animal welfare issue for the honeybees.”
There is no question that responsible beekeepers love their bees. Some of the issues have been exacerbated by the incorrect installation of corporate beehives within cities, to satisfy box-ticking agendas to meet environmental and sustainability ideals.
The number of hives keeps on rising. In the UK there has been a 40 per cent increase since 2015 in the number of registered colonies to just under 300,000.
Honey trap: the number of honeybee colonies has more than doubled in London in the past 10 years CREDIT: Martin Mulchinock Photography
“Paradoxically, these small stinging insects have endeared themselves to the hearts and imagination of the public,” says Richard Glassborow. “But in truth, they can reveal our careless relationship with biodiverse ecosystems without which the world would stop turning.
“This is a delicate issue for responsible beekeepers. There are many benefits to urban beekeeping, including wellbeing and understanding of, and engagement with, the natural world. People do not become beekeepers to inadvertently mistreat animals or harm wildlife. We desperately need a better-informed narrative. If people really want to keep bees, we at the LBKA will help them. If people want to help bees – all bees – we will help them plant flowers.”
Lots of flowers in one place makes efficient feeding for pollinators. But often trees are overlooked. Just three suitable, established trees have similar floral resources to an acre of meadow.
Recent research from the University of East Anglia discovered that wild bees are active high up among the trees’ branches and foliage above the shade. The research revealed that woodland canopies may play a more significant role in bee conservation than previously thought, and that nectar- and pollen-rich sycamore trees were particularly attractive to bees.
Research at Kew has shown how certain tree species across the UK not only provide copious quantities of nectar and pollen for all bees, but also contain “medicinal” compounds that can help pollinators manage or prevent disease.
“One way to reduce the amount of competition between pollinators, particularly in cities with worryingly high concentrations of honeybees, is by promoting an abundance of flowering trees throughout the season,” says Phil Stevenson.
“Tree blossom is highly attractive to honeybees and its abundance can lower the load of honeybees on other flowering plants, which may be more beneficial to specialized species of wild bees. This can help facilitate a more harmonious coexistence between beekeepers and pollinator diversity.”
Jean Vernon’s latest book, ‘Attracting Garden Pollinators’, is out now
Honey trap: the number of honeybee colonies has more than doubled in London in the past 10 years CREDIT: Martin Mulchinock Photography
“Paradoxically, these small stinging insects have endeared themselves to the hearts and imagination of the public,” says Richard Glassborow. “But in truth, they can reveal our careless relationship with biodiverse ecosystems without which the world would stop turning.
“This is a delicate issue for responsible beekeepers. There are many benefits to urban beekeeping, including wellbeing and understanding of, and engagement with, the natural world. People do not become beekeepers to inadvertently mistreat animals or harm wildlife. We desperately need a better-informed narrative.
Plant trees for the bees
Lots of flowers in one place makes efficient feeding for pollinators. But often trees are overlooked. Just three suitable, established trees have similar floral resources to an acre of meadow.
Recent research from the University of East Anglia discovered that wild bees are active high up among the trees’ branches and foliage above the shade. The research revealed that woodland canopies may play a more significant role in bee conservation than previously thought, and that nectar- and pollen-rich sycamore trees were particularly attractive to bees.
Research at Kew has shown how certain tree species across the UK not only provide copious quantities of nectar and pollen for all bees, but also contain “medicinal” compounds that can help pollinators manage or prevent disease.
“One way to reduce the amount of competition between pollinators, particularly in cities with worryingly high concentrations of honeybees, is by promoting an abundance of flowering trees throughout the season,” says Phil Stevenson.
“Tree blossom is highly attractive to honeybees and its abundance can lower the load of honeybees on other flowering plants, which may be more beneficial to specialized species of wild bees. This can help facilitate a more harmonious coexistence between beekeepers and pollinator diversity.”
Jean Vernon’s latest book, ‘Attracting Garden Pollinators’, is out now