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Gardening for Bees Mar ’23

‘Gardening in Balance with Nature’

A talk by David Robinson, MD of National Beekeeping Supplies

Held at Kilmington Village Hall, 2nd March, 2023. 26 attendees

David has had an interest in the environment and natural world since his upbringing in Birmingham near Spaghetti Junction. He went on to graduate from the UK’s first Environmental Biology course at the University of Liverpool in 1976. In 2011, he joined Suttons Seeds as marketing director and in 2014 he and a colleague organised a management buyout from their French owners with David becoming Managing Director. They acquired several gardening/wildlife and direct marketing related businesses, including National Bee Supplies and ran the catalogue/online trading business of the Garden Organic charity, of which he is a trustee. Having sold Suttons Seeds, David is now able to concentrate on his passion for organic gardening. He writes a monthly gardening article for Bee Craft.

The theme of the talk, ‘Gardening in balance with nature’, aims to show how gardening can be a sustainable activity, contributing to UK biodiversity. This talk is about supporting the 24 UK species of bumblebee, 59 species of butterflies, 225 species of solitary bees, over 9000 species of wasp and many thousands of other insects including hoverflies and beetles.

Why do insects need plants?

Take the case of docks. They are the thugs of the plant world. They will invade and take over areas of your garden, their spreading foliage crowding out other plants. However, given time, the dock beetle will find and invade the docks, laying their eggs, which in turn hatch out into caterpillars that eat the leaves. Using pesticides in your garden will kill these useful species as well as the intended target species.

David showed a similar relationship between Southern beech seedlings and leaf cutter bees. In this case the bees are using the leaf material for making their nests. A similar situation can be observed with rose leaves. The plants don’t suffer too much and the bees add to the biodiversity of your garden.

Wasps are often seen as a ‘pest’ species, but in fact, they are a very important part of the balance of nature. As a carnivorous insect the adults eating an enormous number of pests in the UK each year.

Which came first, the flower or the bee?

The flowering plants started to evolve around 180m years ago. At that time there were a few insects, but from then on, the insects and flowering plants evolved together producing the fantastic variety of species and special relationships which we call biodiversity. Some flowering plants offered a sugary reward (nectar) to attract the bees which would then inadvertently carry pollen from flower to flower, bringing about cross pollination.

The pollinators we don’t see

Studies have shown that as many as 45% of nocturnal moths carry pollen on their bodies.

Flowers don’t have to be showy

IvyIvy

CotoneasterCotoneaster

These two flowers attract numerous bees, flies, wasps and other pollinators, despite being drab.

Shape matters

Choose varieties with easily available pollen. Avoid double flowered varieties.

CamelliaSingle Camellia

Camellia doubleDouble Camellia

Have a variety of formats to cater for all types of bee.

FoxgloveFoxglove

SunflowerSunflower

BorageBorage

Let some of your veggies flower and run to seed. Brassica flowers are similar to oil seed rape. Brilliant for bees!

Should we go native?

We also need a wide variety of plants in our gardens to attract as many species of insect as possible, e.g., flowers for long-tongued and short-tongued bees. Gardens occupy over 1,000,000 acres in the UK, and many of the species planted in gardens are non-native. Although ‘non-native’ has a bad name, the vast majority of non-native flowering plants are not invasive and are beneficial to wildlife as they compensate for the wild plants that are no longer abundant, for example Elaeagnus often used for hedging (Elaeagnus umbellata).

ElaeagnusElaeagnus

The Year

David’s favourite plants to provide pollen and/or nectar throughout the year.

SnowdropsJanuary – Snowdrops

Lonicera fragransFebruary – Winter honeysuckle – Lonicera fragrans

CrocusMarch – Crocus

DandelionApril – Dandelion

ComfreyMay – Comfrey

AlliumJune – Bristol onion

TeaselJuly – Teasels

MarjoramAugust – Marjoram and other herbs

Mexican daisySeptember – Mexican daisy Erigeron karvinskyanus

SedumOctober – Sedum

Winter flowering cherryNovember – Winter flowering cherry Prunus subhirtella autumnalis

MahoniaDecember – Mahonia

Do more by doing less – No Mow May

By allowing grass to grow taller, the grass roots will penetrate deeper into the soil, lowering temperatures in the sward and reducing run off. This will allow seeds to germinate, grow and set seed for next year, improving biodiversity for free! Plants such as clover are particularly good at regeneration after mowing (see below).

No-mow-MayNo-mow-May

Trees

National Beekeeping Supplies have planted 3500 so far and have achieved their aim of becoming ‘carbon negative’. They are experimenting with a close planting system called ‘Mini Forests’ which originated in Japan. A new area is planted each year with a mulch of grass cuttings from hay meadows and paths of wood chips from hive manufacture.

The Miyawaki Mini Forest method mimics the way a forest would recolonise itself if humans stepped away. The tree species chosen must grow well in the region planted. The target is 600 trees planted in a tennis court sized area. These Mini Forests are ideally suited for urban areas. For more information visit the Earth Watch site.

In addition to the meadows and tree planting, NBS have created eight ponds of differing sizes and depth to provide new habitats for wildlife and carbon capture.

Trees have the advantage that, when they are out in flower, there is a massive amount of pollen and nectar in a small area. The bees don’t have to go far to collect as much as they want.

The audience had lots of questions, ranging from effects of climate change to details of the Miyawaki Forest system, all competently answered by David. We thank him for a fascinating insight into his endeavours to make NBS ‘carbon negative’ and provide so many hints and tips as to how we can all improve our gardening for nature.