Over the last few years, serious declines in bee populations have been seen in the UK and further afield, as a result of climate change, habitat destruction, mites and so on… and, while we no doubt can all agree that this is sad in and of itself, it seems that there are many of us out there who don’t quite know why we need to protect these pollinators – and what would happen if they all just disappeared.
Research commissioned by The British Bee Charity and Netflix has just revealed that around 30 per cent of Brits, in fact, don’t know why bees are so important to the environment, the Independent reports.
Despite this, however, 66 per cent of us are worried about the declines being seen in native British bees, with 67 per cent of survey respondents putting this down to natural habitat loss.
The study also revealed that people are trying to do their bit to help the bees survive and thrive, whether that’s by putting flowering plants in the garden to give them access to pollen, keeping cats and dogs away from them or by giving thirsty bees a drink of sugar or water so they have enough energy to take off again.
The charity’s Greg Boole was quoted by the news source as saying: “The general public, for the most part, knows that honey comes from bees. But most people fail to realise that we have almost 300 species of bumble bees and solitary bees in the UK.
“The narrative of ‘bees need help’ has been driven so hard in the past ten years that it has caused an upsurge in the number of honeybee hives in the UK, when perhaps our focus should have been directed more at what we can do as individuals to help all bees and pollinators.”
Bees are essential for pollinating the food we eat, as well as the trees and flowers that provide wildlife habitats – and if they do become extinct, it would have severe repercussions for the planet as a whole.
Wasps are amazing pollinators as well, don’t forget, so if you do need the help of a wasp exterminator, get in touch with us today rather than trying to handle the situation yourself.