National Bee Day - Why Are Bees So Important?

🕤 6 min read

Today is National Bee Day! And we couldn’t be happier that our fuzzy little friends are in the limelight. As a buzziness, we are passionate about the environment, but nobody helps our planet quite like the bees! We have decided to celebrate properly, for every pair of our bee-themed earrings we sell today, we will be drone-ating £5 to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

On top of this, use code 'BEE10' to get 10% off your orders this weekend!

Carry on reading to find out why bees are unbeelievable creatures and look out for our cringe-worthy bee puns! How many do you spot? Let us know in the comments and over on our social media!

Why Do We Have a National Bee Day?

A world without bees would be a very dull place, but it is sadly beecoming a possibility. Over the last decade, bee populations have been in rapid decline, and we need to raise awareness so that we can find a way to stop our bees from disappearing for good.

Why are Bees so Important?

The term ‘busy bee’ didn’t come about for no reason, they are an integral part of most ecosystems and are necessary for both plant and animal life. 80% of all flowering plants rely on insects for pollination, especially bees.

Pollination is not just needed for flowers, but for the fruit and vegetables that feed both us and our livestock. Without bees, the farming industry will certainly feel a sting. It has been estimated that farmers in the UK alone would have to spend a massive £1.8 billion per year to manually pollinate their crops.

As invertebrates, bees have been pollinating the planet and creating delicious honey for millions of years, long beefore our own ancestors walked the Earth. Honey has become a staple for its many benefits and is now used as an important ingredient in, skincare, medication, and food. Without honey, life just wouldn’t be as sweet.

Why Are Bees Disappearing?

The short answer is that we are the reason for bees disappearing. From habitat loss and global warming to the use of pesticides, we have caused the number of bees to decline. Many species of bees rely on hollow trees to nest in, wildflower meadows to make a home and plenty of flowers to get food from, however, with towns and cities expanding, these areas are becoming more and more sparse.

On top of habitat loss, the use of pesticides can be fatal for bees. As they try their best to pollinate, they consume neonicotinoids and other chemicals that are sprayed onto plants, poisoning the bees, and fatally damaging their nervous systems.

Climate change is another contributing factor. With the fluctuating weather and temperatures, plants are blooming at unpredictable times causing major disruption to bees’ nesting behaviours and pollination. 

How Can We Save the Bees?

The good news is that there is still time to save the bees and as luck would hive it, many of these can be done around our own homes or within our neighbourhoods. A lot of the ideas below are a lot of fun and even give you and your colony a chance to be a little creative!

Create a Bee-Friendly Garden

If you are lucky enough to have a garden, why not make it bee friendly?! Create a peaceful corner filled with bee-friendly flowers to encourage pollination and provide a safe haven for them. You can find out which flowers bees love the most by heading over to our Pinterest board, here. If gardening is not quite your thing, then great! Bees love overgrown and wild spaces. Keep a part of your garden natural and wild and watch nature do its thing. 

Avoid Chemicals in Your Garden

Stop bugging them with chemicals! As mentioned above, pesticides are incredibly harmful to bees, however, they are not the only culprit. Many chemical fertilisers and herbicides are equally as harmful to bees. If you choose to use these within your garden, go for natural alternatives instead. Our six-legged friends will thank you! 

Build a Bee Bath

We have all heard of birdbaths, but did you know that bees love a bath too? We are not pollen your leg! It is thirsty work being a busy bee, but you can help. Fill a shallow birdbath or bowl with water and arrange some pretty pebbles or stones inside that are just the right height for bees to land on and have a drink. Perfect for when it is a little swarm outside.

Plant Some Trees

Whether you have space in your garden for trees or choose to plant some as part of your community, bees will love your neighbourhood for it and the planet will too! Bees get the majority of their nectar from trees, and they provide safe nesting spaces for many species of bees and other wildlife.

Create a Community Garden

Many towns and cities have unused areas of land that have become neglected. With permission from your local council, you can transform these areas into beautiful gardens that will provide a tranquil spot for our buzzing friends and a beeautiful space for your community to relax.

Make a Bee Hotel

For a safe hiding space all year round, you can create a bee hotel, but make sure you do your research first. It is a known fact that attracting many bees to one small area can spread disease between different hives, so to do this right, make sure you insectigate the best ways to do this and if it is feasible in your area. You can buy ready-built bee hotels that are specifically designed to make life easier for the bees, but if you wannabee artsy you can have a buzzing time creating your own!

Buy Our Bee Earrings!

Lastly, buy a pair of our beewitching earrings today and for every bee-themed pair we sell, we will donate £5 to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust!

And don't forget, use code 'BEE10' to get 10% off your orders this weekend!

Don’t forget to head over to our Pinterest board for more unbeelievable ideas on how you can help save the bees! And join us on Instagram to tell us how much you loved my bee puns because I just know that I will be getting eye rolls from the team for the rest of the day!

Now that I have droned on enough, let’s get out in the sunshine and start saving the bees!