Saturday 20 August 2016

National Honey Bee Day

It's no secret that I love bees - they're just my favourite buzzy things, and I find it fascinating to sit in the garden when the sun is shining, watching them pop from plant to plant. I did a day-long beekeeping course, I have a bee tattoo and a bunch of other bee paraphenalia.


I don't know when my love affair with bees started - but I know this: they're important. Without bees, we'd lose crops. Without crops, the food chain would slowly start to fall apart. Even if we weren't (in the majority) meat eaters, we'd struggle because vegetable accessibility would decline rapidly. Evolution has made it so that bees are the ones who pollinate the crops; if they went, it would take years upon years to fill the gap with other insects, evolving to take up a job they've never had to do before. And not to alarm you, but bees are dying. We don't have as many flowers and meadows any more; we use pesticides, and climate change is a big thing.

So what can we do? If you have space, and time, become a bee keeper. Okay, so that's not a viable option for most people but there's still things we can all do. Eat (and buy!) more honey - demand it, show that we still need bees. And for the love of all things buzzy, plant more flowers. We have a garden full of 'em: lavender, sunflowers, poppies and honeysuckle are all rich in pollen. Plus they look pretty. You can also buy from brands who use bee by-products to make beauty products; for example, Bee Good are an amazing skincare brand who make products using British bees and also donate to bee conservation charities.


Another company who love bees as much as me are White Stuff; they were kind enough to send me this beautiful scarf and the cutest socks so I can wear them with pride today, National Honey Bee Day. Thanks, guys!


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