33% of Irish Bee species are Threatened with Extinction. Why You Should Care and How You Can Help Change It!

Much of the problem is that with Ireland’s ever-growing urban landscape, the bees no longer have enough area to nest, or sufficient food to eat. Much of the area available to them has heavy use of pesticides.

Why does this matter?

90% of the 369,000 flowering plant and crop species are dependent on insect pollination, with 35% being pollinated by bees. One honeybee can usually visit 50-1000 flowers in a trip – that’s about 10,000 flowers in a day! Many animal species depend on bees for their survival as their food sources including nuts, berries, seeds, and fruits would be unavailable without the Bee’s pollination. Along with making food for other organisms, pollination also allows floral growth which in turn provides homes for other animals such as insects and birds.

The team at Chris Mee Group recently took some time away from their desks to do some Guerrilla Gardening. We purchased packets of “Save the Bees” wildflower meadow mixed seeds from Future Orchard Cork. It’s really easy – you just scruff the ground, sprinkle the seeds and firm the soil with a footprint! Once in bloom, the brightly coloured annual and biennial flowers will attract butterflies, bees and other insects.

     5 Things You can do to save our bees

1. Don’t have a garden? Even if you have a small balcony you can grow flowers and herbs in plant pots.
2. When planning your Garden, plant flowers and shrubs that will flower in spring or autumn.
3. When gardening, consider leaving an area uncut to allow daisies, dandelions and other flowers to grow.
4. Have a little more space? Plant fruit trees!

Sources:

• https://www.earthday.org/campaigns/endangered-species/bees/?gclid=CjwKCAjw04vpBRB3EiwA0IieanA2PWnXT2TwMtaLLW7MqxcboBfQrL-OCw5xDv2x7KylPII4_HtDkBoCnXoQAvD_BwE#action
• https://spunout.ie/life/article/simple-steps-help-save-bees