Save London bees

I'm taking part in a sustainable initiative that wants to help save bees in London. We would really appreciate some information from people interested in gardenening to help push our project forward and make it as good as it can be. Here are a few questions:

Would you plant bee friendly plants? Do you know how to make your garden bee friendly?

Do you use any technology as an information source to help you in your garden?

How do you feel about using mobile technology to help you while you are in the garden?

Would you feel motivated to garden bee-friendly plants if you get discount on honey from local producers?

Please answer as many or as little questions as you'd like. Any contribution would be very much appreciated! Thank you.

 

Would you plant bee friendly plants? Do you know how to make your garden bee friendly?

I love bees, so absolutely do and would plant bee-friendly plants - only see bumble bees round here these days though, none of the smaller bees unfortunately.

Do you use any technology as an information source to help you in your garden?

Yes absolutely - both via this forum, but also the wider net. If I get a new plant or am thinking about getting one, the first thing I do is Google to see if it's suitable or how I should look after it/ plant it/ prune it, etc.

How do you feel about using mobile technology to help you while you are in the garden?

Not sure I'd use it because my garden is small so easier to come inside and use the laptop.

Would you feel motivated to garden bee-friendly plants if you get discount on honey from local producers?

Don't like honey so no.

 

Would you plant bee friendly plants? Do you know how to make your garden bee friendly?
I wouldn't mind having bees in my local park in an allocated spot, but i wouldn't want them in my garden.
I would know how to make my garden bee friendly.

Do you use any technology as an information source to help you in your garden?
reading forums is a good way.

How do you feel about using mobile technology to help you while you are in the garden?
You would have to be morespecific about what technlogy tool.

Would you feel motivated to garden bee-friendly plants if you get discount on honey from local producers?
I don't use a relevant amount of honey therefore i would not be interested. And for the reason stated above.

 

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Would you plant bee friendly plants? Do you know how to make your garden bee friendly?

I plant as many bee friendly plants as possible. Also have recently installed a
'bee hut' for solitary bees and I have fruit trees so all bees are very welcome.

Do you use any technology as an information source to help you in your garden?

Yes, as has already been said, internet is very useful

How do you feel about using mobile technology to help you while you are in the garden?
Such as?

Would you feel motivated to garden bee-friendly plants if you get
discount on honey from local producers?

I am already very bee-friendly so whether I get
honey or not is immaterial.

Please answer as many or as little questions as you'd like.
Any contribution would be very much appreciated! Thank you.


Best of luck with your project and do let us know how you get on

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My last garden was planted to be wildlife friendly, and my new gardens are still very much under construction but the planting scheme is to be wildlife friendly here too.

Note how I said wildlife friendly rather than specifically bee friendly. This is an important point for me. There are lots of species at risk, and the only way to reverse that is to increase the range of habit types for as many species as possible, as no species thrives in isolation.

 

Just a note :

its been proven bees dont like mobile phones being used by the hive it confuses them they also dont like pylons above the hives as well .

I do all I can , using single flowers rathen than doubles makes it better for all insects as was mentioned last week with Sarah Raven .

I keep honey bees so I know what a tough time they are having so I do my bit for all on Gardeners Corner.

Spruce

 

I've always suspected that they were smarter than they looked.

 

The britain in bloom episodes where very helpful,maybe you could iplayer it if you havnt seen it this month x

 

Thank you very much for the replies. This information is certainly going to help the development of our project.

I have however one more question. I see that many of you wouldn't feel motivated to garden bee-friendly because honey isn't that important. What if instead you take part in a scheme where you collect points for being bee-friendly and you get to spend them on plants and gardening tools in gardening centers or could add them to your membership points in a food chain as the Co-Operative.

 

Yes please my address is Kew Gardens

Spruce

 

May I ask what prompted the campaign to save specifically honey bees, specifically in London? Has there been some more media coverage there about the plight of the honey bees?

May I suggest you have a quick look at these sites for a slightly broader picture of the situation that is less well publicised:

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
About Us - Butterfly Conservation

There are of course many more things to consider. We are at risk of losing quite a few of our native flora species too.

I don't mean to suggest that the honey bees are not important. Quite the opposite, they are vital. I only mean to highlight that honeybees are not the only species we should aim to protect. They are the ones with all the media coverage for one simple reason. They have direct, tangible, quantifiable commercial value. Everything else that's in decline is also crucially important, but with no immediately quantifiable commercial value, nobody is screaming about it.

 

Hi again
Lots of us like bees, butterflies etc and don't necessarily make our gardens friendly
to them just to get rewards - in fact it might put people off if they think it is just a commercial project.

Nice thought though!






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