Bees Needs Week

Hoorah! Today marks the beginning of Bees Needs Week and yes, you guessed it- everyone here at Hilltop HQ is more than a little excited about it! So what’s it all about? Read on to find out…

What is Bees Needs Week…

Bees Needs Week is an annual event organised by Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The aim of this awareness week is to get the nation buzzing about our little striped friends and to “encourage more people to do their bit at home- to help provide bees and other pollinators with food and a home.”

So why is this so important?

Bees- as we’re so fond of constantly reminding anyone who will listen!- are amazing. As pollinators, they’re crucial for food production and for maintaining the delicate balance of countless eco systems. We know you know already, but without bees we really would be in a whole lot of trouble.

How can YOU get involved with Bees Needs Week?

If you think that our clever little pollinators are the bees knees (sorry!) and if you love our delicious honey as much as we do, we’re sure that you’re keen to get involved and do as much as you can to help the cause. So here are just a few ways that you can support Bees Needs Week:

• Grow more flowers, shrubs and trees. Bees love lavender, foxgloves, chives, lupin and marigolds in particular.
• Let your garden grow ‘wild’- if you’re up for the challenge?! Let the grass grow a little longer to create a mini jungle that our beloved bees can get busy in!
• Cut down on or eliminate pesticides. The bees will definitely thank you for it.
• Protect insect nests and hibernation spots. You could even create your own bug hotel to help them out a little.
• Shout about it! Get online, go see a friend, whatever it takes to spread the word. Tell the world why caring for our bees is so important, and encourage as many people as possible to support the campaign.
• Adopt a bee! For every sale from our adoption package, we donate 25% to the HoneyPot charity. This helps bees in need and we also send you information and materials to create your own bee friendly gardena ta home too.

Why do we need Bees Needs Week?

As already mentioned (and its worth mentioning again, and again, and again…) bees have a very significant impact on how our world operates- without them, it just wouldn’t work as well. Think of them like a natural glue, holding the environment together as they move pollen between plants. As they do this, they enable whole systems to be sustained and replenished- and without their hard work, we could no longer exist.

Over the centuries, things that we humans have been doing (using pesticides and destroying habitats to name just two) have threatened the future of bees- but although the overall status of them has declined, the good news is that we can take action to help. That’s why Bees Needs Week is so important.

By changing our attitudes and the way that we live our lives, we can ensure that our bees are able to thrive, so that in turn they can continue to make our world as great as we need it to be.

As Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow, says:

“Bees and other pollinators are not just a welcome and much loved sight in our gardens, parks, villages and countryside – they are vital to a healthy environment, driving our economy and boosting biodiversity… Actions that we can take for pollinators and biodiversity will enable us to tackle and adapt to climate change – I encourage everyone to get involved.”

So, are you up for the Bees Needs Week challenge?!