'We need to do more to protect honey bees'

HONEY bees and other pollinating insects play an essential part in the production of more than 60 per cent of the fruit and vegetables we eat. They also pollinate most of the wildflowers and trees that produce the berries, seeds and nuts that sustain birds and other wild creatures throughout the winter.

According to the latest figures from Defra, honey bees contribute more than £600m annually to the economy, yet honey bee numbers have been declining steadily for more than 20 years.

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Several factors have been identified which contribute to this decline including imported parasites, the weather, the widespread use of pesticides and the promotion of crop monoculture.

One crucial factor is that 97 per cent of the UK’s wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s, eliminating natural forage which provides bees with the pollen and nectar they need to survive.

Another is the British public’s passion for closely mown grass, which results in green areas being cut before they can produce flowers. This applies mainly to the enormous areas of publicly owned land maintained, at not insignificant cost, by local authorities.

Clearly there is a need for adequate areas of land to be maintained as amenity land for sports and other recreational activities, but there are large areas which seem to be mown for no obvious reason.

The same applies to roadside verges. While there is an obvious need to ensure that vegetation does not obscure drivers’ views at junctions and roundabouts, is it really necessary to cut the entire width of road verges even on straight roads?

All these areas of unproductive land could be used for wildflowers, which would help to reverse the decline in honey bees and other pollinators.

This does not imply that the land is simply left to its own devices. To be at their best, areas of wildflowers have to be effectively managed. The land has to be properly prepared, which includes removing, or at least reducing, the vigorous grasses that compete with the flowers, until they become established. After that, these areas only need to be cut twice a year and the cuttings removed.

The costs of doing this are significantly less than the costs of mowing weekly or every other week, resulting in significant savings while generating material benefits to the environment.

While local authorities, as major land owners, can make a huge difference, relatively quickly, community groups can make important contributions.

Four years ago Lune Valley Community Beekeepers launched its Pollinator Patches initiative. This was designed to encourage local communities to identify patches of unused land and support them to turn the land into patches of wildflowers to support all pollinators.

The first pollinator patches were planted in 2014 around Caton by members of Caton Scouts and the Catholic church. This year some 30 patches have been created and the aspiration now is to create The Lune Valley Pollinator Corridor, a series of pollinator patches stretching from Lancaster to Kirkby Lonsdale.

To help community groups that would like to create their own pollinator patch, the Lune Valley Community Beekeepers have created an 850 square metre demonstration meadow (see photograph) at their base at Nazareth House in Lancaster, and provide training and advice.

Albert Einstein allegedly said: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

Rather than putting this to the test, if local authorities and community groups were to take up the challenge of creating pollinator patches wherever practical, the decline in our honey bees and other pollinating insects could be reversed and our local environment improved.