Why are bees important? Why should we save some pesky little insects? Simple. Because they are essential to protecting biodiversity in every ecosystem.
Bees are pollenating insects; they are responsible for 90% of plant pollination. Without most wildflowers, plants and crops wouldn’t be able to reproduce.
There are two main types of bees: bumble bees (which are mainly solitary, pollinate among flowers and plant, and make small amounts of hone) and honeybees (who are the main producers of honey).
However, danger threatens the existence of bees, more specifically the invasive Asian hornets. Like their name suggests they originate from southeast Asia (China, India, Thailand) and were first sighted fairly recently in 2005. One Asian hornet can kill between 30 & 50 bees per day, that’s over ten thousand a year for one hornet. This has a catastrophic effect because without bees, several plant species will disappear!
Thankfully there are many different ways to help the bees!
If you ever come a bee that is hurt of in danger (e.g wet or struggling to fly), you can give the bee a tiny bit of water and honey mixed together on a plate and leave the bee in a nice, dry, and sunny place away from danger
You can protect ground nesting bees by providing a well-drained, bare, and protected soil in your garden! (Did you know that out of the 20,000 bees in the world, 70% live underground?)
You can plant flowers and flowering trees – this gives the bees enough food and resources to survive but you have to make sure that they are native to your area to protect biodiversity.
You can take up beekeeping – keeping your own honeybees is another great way to help them! Keeping them will not only help the environment but it will also give you countless hours of entertainment. Make sure to nonetheless take the necessary precautions when handling them (here is a site about bee keeping: https://www.sunset.com/garden/backyard-projects/beekeeper)
You can keep a bee bath with fresh water (bees sometimes have to fly 2-3 miles every day to find water!) having water nearby is a much better alternative.
If you don’t have a back garden or have limited space, you can donate to bee conservation programs. Here is a link to one: The Bee Conservancy - Est. 2009 in Response to the Bee Crisis
Here are some further links “B”, an influencer building buzz about saving the bees - Fondation de France About Bumble Bees | Xerces Society Bee health | Anses - Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail Asian hornet guide: how to identify, the difference from a native European hornet, and how to report a sighting - Discover Wildlife All about the Asian Hornet in France (wildlifeinfrance.com) 10 Ways to Save the Bees - The Bee Conservancy 17 Ways You Can Help Save the Bees - The Best Bee Beekeepers call on the public to help fight record Asian hornet invasion | British Beekeepers Association (bbka.org.uk)