Column About Bees in the Bristol Evening Post

Here is an extract from the column I wrote in the Bristol Evening Post about bees. The headline was "We all lived with Bees in our Backyards".

"In past times we all lived with bees in our backyards. They were a natural part of our existence. Living close to the land and food production most people knew and understood the interdependence of man and the environment. Like much in modern Britain the sowing, source, extraction and processing of our food is now far removed from most of our lives. We no longer witness or experience it directly.

Wildscreen, an environmental charity, hosted a debate recently. One of the panellists commented that everything we need, want and have comes from nature. If one crucial part is missing then human kind is in serious trouble.

The honey bee doesn’t just provide honey. Along with solitary bees and bumble bees, they are important pollinators. For example, bees pollinate approximately 90% of apples. Without bees we would have very limited food choices.

Now ravaged by imported disease, pesticides and loss of food sources, the bee is facing many serious challenges to its health and existence.

There are things anyone can do to help. We need to plant trees, shrubs and flowers that provide their food. We need to buy organic to reduce pesticide use. We need healthier, more natural beekeeping methods that are about the bees and not the honey. We need to help bees develop resistance. The bee has survived millennia without man’s intervention. But man changes the rules by changing its habitat.

We need more bees and more people to keep honey bees; to provide homes for bumble and solitary bees. Beekeeping can be simple and cheap. Schoolchildren can build bee houses and plant seeds.

I very much enjoy hearing about bees at official events; the developers at Constructing Excellence who include bees in developments, seeing beehives at Blaise nursery. Bees do well in cities; let us have more bees in Bristol."

From First Lady, "We All Lived with Bees in our Backyards", Bristol Evening Post 18th October 2010 by Jenny Bradley.