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Gardeners all over the world are encouraged to plant more flowers for the bees that would make sure they will survive through the colder months. Between fall and spring, their resources will lower, and their food sources might become more difficult to reach. However, gardeners could lend a hand.
Keeping honey bees as a thriving species is an important factor. They hold a severely important role to multiple products that human use. Their ability to pollinate flowers is crucial to the survival of many plants, and yet, their kind is struggling. Due to the increasing temperatures, the bee population is unfortunately in decline.
However, you do not have to be a beekeeper in order to help. In fact, by simply planting a variation of flowers, it could drastically help their numbers either survive or increase over the years.
Bees have tough jobs and are always hard at work, gathering pollen, nectar and water, so they may live and reproduce. The pollen is their source of food, the water cools down their hives while dilutes the honey, and the nectar is placed in storage for colder months. That is because there are much fewer flower species to pollinate during the winter.
While bees tend to keep themselves to one species of flower at a time, they’re also in favor of cross-pollination. This means that they travel from one to another, ensuring their reproductive process. By maintaining that variety, they keep the plants strong and vigorous throughout their lifespan. Gardeners could certainly help with planting more of them.
However, while quantity is good, variety is even better.
Year round availability
In order to better assure the survival of more bees throughout the cold winter months, planting different types of plants with different blooming times could be better. There is a shortage of resources for the insects when the weather is colder. Usually, the season between spring and fall is rich in sources, but there is a gap between winter and the following spring.
By providing them with nutrient-rich flower species that can survive through the cold months, it would help their numbers prosper through the more difficult times.
According to Mace Vaughan, from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, this is “critically important” because variety keeps a bee hive healthy. It also offers it better chances of handling diseases, pesticides, or even pest invasions.
Any sort of plants that provide pollen would do, preferably that they would be white, yellow, blue, or violet, and with saucer-shaped blooms.
Image source: morethansound.net
