8 Easy Things You Can Do to Protect Bees

Did you know that as much as we rely on bees for so many parts of our life, they are also at risk of extinction?

Extinction?

No, we are not exaggerating because recently, the number of population of several species which are pollinators of many plant species are decreasing. This is happening due to Global warming that changes the earth’s temperature, human intervention, and development as well as extensive use of pesticides.

Bees are not only pollinators but also consist of more than 20,000 different species, each with their own purpose. Even if you are a vegetarian who doesn’t consume honey, you rely on plants for your diet, which need bees to be pollinated and thrive. So, here are 8 easy things anyone can do to help bees survive.

1. Build or sponsor a hive

Helping to build a hive for bees all them to thrive around your community, but if you find yourself in short of time or space, you can choose to donate instead. The Honeybee Conservancy is currently installing multiple stocked honeybees and solitary bees hives. The project extends across the US.

2. Protect their habitat

It’s out of our hand to deal with big contractors who are destroying the habitats and opening new lands for business purposes. But if we can’t prevent what’s gone, we can instead, build new places for bees to live in. By creating small gardens and taking care of our lawns to allow bees to thrive will give them a new place to stay.

3. Help your local beekeepers

Beekeepers are frontline workers who work hard to protect the bees from threats. There are many ways you can do to help them, including working as a beekeeper! But even if you are not one, you can instead volunteer to help the beekeepers to expand your knowledge or donate a sum of money to the locals.

4. Public bee rest stops

Yes, bees take baths as well! A good bathing place for bee is the one with clean water and fresh flower petals. Bees take breaks from working and refresh themselves by drinking from a shallow dish. It cannot be too deep or the bees might drown!

You can decorate it with a few pebbles which the bees can land on or simply with a few petals to attract them.

5. Build hives for solitary bees

Most people know bees as creatures that live in a big community in a large hive, but that’s only honeybees. Most bees are solitary types, such as bumblebees and about 30% of this type lives above ground. They make their homes in the holes of trees.

It’s pretty easy to make a house for these small ones or you can buy a house instead and just prep them on the wall just like in the picture!

6. Invest in gardening

To be invested in gardening is another way to create a space for bees to find food. Bees do not only find food from nectar and flowers, but also from tree leaves! They also construct their house and find materials from trees.

Depending on what you plant, you can harvest fruits while making your home a better place for the bees!

7. Help spread the awareness

A lot of people spread the awareness of global warming, of animal cruelty, and other world issues that seem to bring direct impact to human lives. But not enough realize what it means to not have enough bees to pollinate the plants.

A third of the food that we consume every day relies on the pollination of honeybees and monarch butterflies. These two species are tightly knitted in terms of what they do to the plantation and what they need to survive. Whether farmers build their own honeybee hives or relying on wild pollinators, the number is just not enough.

If we fail to maintain the number of pollinators, including bees, we might need be looking at a future with food scarcity.

8. Say NO to pesticides

So far, pesticides that are declared to be non-toxic for both plants and bees are either fake or doesn’t do its job too well. As much as we want to get rid of the insects that are ruining our garden, the same pesticides are killing bees.

In 2014, scientists have finally found a way to create pesticide that do not kill honeybees. One way to do it is to make them insect-specific, so they do not kill bees nor do they hurt the plant. To top it off, it’s all natural!