Save the Honey Bee!

We need to save the bumblebee.

Did you know that there are currently around 250 species of bee in the UK, 25 are native British bees and this is only half of what we had in the 1950s, 3 species of Bee have already become extinct and 5 are under serious threat with another 2 teetering on the brink? I have only become aware of this over the past few days and it is very worrying.

Why bother about bumblebees?

Some of you probably view bees as a bit of a pest and I know they make an annoying noise and it hurts when they sting us by they are actually very important and intelligent creatures. We have bees to thank for a lot of things, for example it is thanks to them that we are able to drink smoothies and eat fruit. Without bees we would lose our flora, fauna and one third of our diet. Bees help pollinate around 70% of all the crops on the planet. If all the bees die there is a chance that nothing will replace them meaning that many plants will simply die-off due to lack of pollination.

Without bees not only would there would be no honey, certain plants would not be able to reproduce and would cease to exist. This would then lead to the disappearance of certain animal species.

''If the bee became extinct, man would only survive a few years beyond it'' Albert Einstein

How to help:

There are many ways you can help, for a detailed list visit this interesting website

A fun and delicious way to help has been created by Innocent who have cleverly created a new smoothie called Buy One Get One Bee combining the flavours of lemon, honey and ginger, by buying a bottle or a carton of this delicious smoothie you can help the declining population of bees in several ways. For each carton/bottle you purchase Innocent promise to help the National Trust install 40 new beehives on their sites and provide beekeeping equipment to help introduce 2 million bees. Each bottle/carton comes with a free little packet of seeds which you can plant in your garden or a window box to help create a bee friendly area.

Sources: Wikipedia, Help Save Bees, Innocent, Google Images.