Happy world bee day! I'll share what I learned in my recent pollinator investigation:
One of the best things for bees is interconnected landscapes. Planting native flowers is great, but if they're isolated in your garden then their benefit is limited. Plant things that connect your garden with the local environment. And if you don't have a garden, stand up for green spaces. #WorldBeeDay
Ask your local council to plant locally appropriate pollinator-friendly plants and leave more spaces wild. Some parks are so neat and dominated by ornamental plants that they have less diverse bee populations than in urban environments!
You might not be able to oppose local developments, but maybe you could influence an increase in green spaces in them and protect some of the existing plant communities on the land they're developing. #WorldBeeDay
@wormerama A thing to be aware of: I don't know for sure whether this is a problem everywhere, but a lot of commercially grown supposedly-pollinator-friendly plants here are contaminated with (sometimes illegal) pesticides that can actively harm the insect population.
A Dutch ecology association recommends to plant certified pesticide-free plants only, or if that is not viable, to prefer natural growth of 'weeds' over actively planting.
So any request to a council should probably be accommodated by a specific request for plants that are pesticide-free according to the locally available certifications.
@wormerama That is disappointing to hear :(
Thanks for your efforts!
@joepie91 Yes we have that here too. And even if the plants are bought without pesticides, councils love spraying parks with them anyway! Currently in a battle with my local council to get them to stop. They're spending money on pollinator corridors then spraying everywhere, seems counterproductive!