How we can help bees
Bees matter to us a great deal, and not only because of honey. Most important of all is pollination: a third of all the food we eat depends on it. Yet climate change, disease, intensive farming and pesticides are putting bees under growing pressure. Beekeepers protect their bees as best they can, but wild bees are far more exposed. There are more than 500 species of wild bee, and they play a vital role in pollinating fields, gardens and forests. They live solitary lives in hollow tree trunks and in the ground, where they are more exposed to the elements. Luckily, there are ways to help them:
1. Plant bee-friendly flowers
They will draw bees to your garden, where they will also pollinate your other plants and fruit trees. Bee-friendly plants look lovely in bloom, and they give bees the food they need. Good choices include echinacea, wild thyme, lavender, peppermint, valerian, oregano, asters, sage, hazel, heather, raspberries and blackberries, buckwheat and phacelia.
2. Avoid pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers
Where you can, don't use harmful pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilisers in your garden, orchard or vineyard. If you really can't avoid them, spray late in the day when the bees are already back in their hives. You can also cut down on pesticides or swap them for natural alternatives. Remember that when you drive away or kill troublesome insects, you also harm useful ones such as bees.
3. Build a bee hotel
You can give solitary wild bees a safe place to live by building a bee hotel. The most important thing is that the holes they shelter in stay dry and protected.
You'll find instructions for building a bee hotel HERE (in Slovenian).
4. Set up a simple bee waterer
On hot summer days, bees often struggle to find clean water. You can help by making a simple bee waterer. Fill a shallow dish with fresh water and add some pebbles, moss or a piece of wood so the bees can reach the water without drowning.
5. Support local beekeepers
Buy honey from local beekeepers who care for their bees with a lot of hard work and love. Their bees also pollinate your flowers, your garden and all the plants around you. With their knowledge, beekeepers look after our native bees: they protect them, feed them when food is scarce and treat them for the diseases that threaten them. Every purchase supports local beekeeping, the bees that help you, and the nature around you.
6. Support our idea of natural honey cosmetics
We make Beesmetic natural cosmetics from bee products sourced from local Slovenian beekeepers. Beeswax and honey have remarkable regenerating, antioxidant and moisturising effects on the skin and are the key to healthy, beautiful skin. When you buy bee cosmetics, you support not only us but also the local beekeepers we buy our raw materials from. You can find Beesmetic products HERE.
Let's help the bees that live alongside us! :)
