About ⅓ of our food supply relies upon bee pollination. You don't have to be a beekeeper to make a difference; you can get involved by supporting bees and beekeepers in your area in a variety of ways.
- One of the biggest problems for bee health is the absence of habitat. Bees need a green space, this could be in your own backyard, or the neighborhood.
- Provide a home for the bees to flourish! One of the best ways to save bees is to actually provide the place for them to live. You can help improve the health of your local ecosystem by starting a beehive. This is a great way to learn more about bees and improve your environment. Another benefit would be the raw honey production and beeswax.
- Buy local raw honey or beeswax products from keepers near you
- Purchase a HLH "Save the Bees" shirt to bring awareness wherever you go (proceeds donated to North American Beekeeping Associations)
- Bring awareness to the issue by teaching others. Spread the word just how important bees are for the planet
- Plant wildflowers and other bee friendly plants. Planting wildflowers are great for bee health because they are rich in nectar. You don’t need a huge area of space, flowers can be planted on street corners or along roadways. Wildflowers are great for bees, but hybrid flowers may have little pollen or no nectar making them less bee friendly. Another tip would be to have variety a flowers and make sure that there are flowers blooming year round. Plant flowers in groups, because bees like to focus on one flower type at a time.
- Plant flowers and trees in your yard that promote bee health
- Start a garden
- Lobby local politicians for change
- Ditch the weed killer and fertilizers. Certain synthetic pesticides and fertilizers that are harmful to bees. You will keep bees away from your garden if you use these dangerous pesticides. If you need to treat your garden, you should consider organic options and spray when pollinators are least active, usually at night. If you don’t want to use a pesticide, mantises and ladybugs are great for the garden. Harmful pesticides would be those that include chemicals from the neonicotinoid family.
- Support, volunteer or donate to a local beekeeping club or Apiary organization
- Provide a water source for bees which could be a fountain, bucket or stream
- Buy local and organic produce as this supports farmers that rely on pollination
