After taking my own advice (see my last post) and trying to go plastic free this Christmas, I decided that a wonderful plastic free gift would be a charitable donation made in someone's name. Now as a budding environmentalist, my first stop was the Friends of the Earth website in which I discovered their "Winter Bee Saver Kit". Now you can claim one of these for yourself in return for a small donation and it includes all sorts of lovely things such as wildflower seeds and a garden planner but this got me thinking. What should I be doing for bees during winter?
We've all heard about bee hotels for the springtime and the obvious answer is to plant lots of flowers for summer but I really had no idea how to look after our flying friends during the colder months. So after some research I found a few ways that we can make our homes and gardens habitable for bees all year round so that they have somewhere safe to eat and sleep no matter what the weather!
1. Flowers
Starting with the most obvious, plant some flowers. There are many winter flowering plants that bees absolutely love and will also keep your garden looking lovely! Plants such as snowdrops, heather and winter honeysuckle can not only provide food but also shelter for bees. If you don't have a garden or a balcony then why not buy these plants for someone who does this Christmas? That way, they get a lovely plant and you know that you're helping out their local bees!
2. Don't dig!
Some solitary bees will nest in the ground during the winter months so look out for any tiny holes before digging as you may just save a life by doing so!
3. Leaves and Twigs
Create shelter for our winged friends by compiling piles of leaves, twigs, stones and dead stems. Although be careful with the dead stems as you may find a solitary bee has already made it their home! You can also plant ivy for the same affect as the leaves create great shelter but this is definitely more of a long term commitment.
4. Protect your Bee Hotel
If you already have a bee hotel in your garden left over from summer then move it indoors. I'm not saying you have to share your living and dining room with a swarm of bees but if you have a shed that you can put it in then this will protect it from damp and frost for next year. You could even go one step further and put your bee hotel in the shed with the window open so the bees can continue to use it until things start to warm up again.
5. Feeding your bees
If you start to see things getting really desperate or you find any sick or injured bees then I know often that bee keepers will use a sugar syrup (made with one part sugar and two parts water) to keep their bees strong and healthy during the winter months. Maybe just leaving a small dish of syrup on your window sill could be a good way to help out your near by bees if you don't have enough room to do any of the above.
6. Do something charitable!
Lastly, you could always do something charitable for our bees. There are many great causes out their helping to save our bees and anything you can do is better than nothing. Like I said, this whole post was inspired by my donation to Friends of the Earth but I'm sure there are many other things you could do. Buying honey from a local beekeeper or volunteering at your local garden centre, even just spreading around your new found bee protecting knowledge. These are all great ways to make a difference this winter and hopefully by next year we will start to see more and more black and yellow in our gardens, no matter what the weather.
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