My name is Archie and I’m on a mission to
SAVE OUR BEES
I have been involved with bees and have been a beekeeper since the age of 2.
I find bees a fascinating subject, but never realizing what an important function bees serve in the survival of humans!
- 1 in every 3 mouthfuls of food we eat
- 70% of our trees are pollinated by the bees that provide vital O2.
This clearly is an important part of our food chain and one we need to pay attention to.
Do you know we have lost 140,000 miles of hedgerows and 97% wildflower meadows over the last 50 years.
A good example of this is the lack of insects that my grandma said we would find splattered on our car windscreens, of days gone past. Take the bugs matter survey.
Yes, we have banned a few pesticides that are harmful, but we still have lots available in the marketplace which harm our pollinators. In fact the government approved the usage of Neonicotinoids for growing sugar beet in UK last year, (despite it being banned), and will probably allow the use of it again next year.
The National Sustainable Use of Pesticide Plan was supposed to be published in 2018……..we are still waiting.
.
So, my message is simple,
we need to create and provide more habitats and food for the insect population to multiply in greater numbers, to enable them to help sustain our food chain and this can be done in a very easy way.
there are many miles of verges and central reservations along with roundabouts that are opportunities to convert from ugly wasteland to healthy wildflower areas to provide pollinator habitats, which will not only make road travelling more attractive, but also cost effective in maintenance savings, requiring only one Autumn cut of these areas to prepare them for the following season.
What i’m doing,
I have been writing to councils in the UK and various dignitaries to ask them to support this mission & help save the bees. Check out my blog for the latest update.
I am asking councils to create a pollinator plan for their borough and to invite companies within their local borough to sponsor ugly verges and roundabouts and create healthy attractive pollinator habitats instead.
Companies will pay for these ugly wastelands to be turned into beautiful wildflower areas, as well as maintain them, thus supporting the pollinators.
In return the company gains signage at this roundabout so good for PR / Marketing; and they support their own Sustainability Goals by reducing their carbon footprint by up to 80%.
The councils have to negotiate good wildflower maintenance contracts, but then these are funded by local businesses, as it only needs one autumn cut, the maintenance is low.
The council then have beautiful areas which they do not need to maintain (less cost), which also benefits their sustainability goals too.
It makes the roadsides and roundabouts look attractive for the general public.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY it helps provide more habitats and food for our vital pollinators.
Everyone is a winner!
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