At Lib's Aromatherapy, we have joined in the race to help save the bees!
All bee species are essential for our ecosystem to stay healthy. After all, they are one of the main pollen collectors, spreading it far and wide to pollinate our trees and wildflowers which in turn supports other insects. These insects then support birds, bats, mammals, and so on. Take bees out of that equation and all would most certainly be lost.
But bees are losing their habitat and food sources because of many factors:
New Housing
However needed, new housing destroys large areas of natural habitat, taking away wildflower meadows and trees that bees and many other animals call home.
Farming
It's not so much farming that's the problem, but today's farming methods. Farming has had to change to suit our likes and dislikes.
"Pressure from supermarkets and ultimately from consumers – for perfect, unblemished crops, for ever-increasing yields, for the cheap food that pushes farm-gate prices significantly below the unit cost of production – is driving farmers towards agricultural intensification, towards increased chemical inputs (pesticides and fertilisers), and, increasingly, out of business." and "The increasing reluctance to buy ‘wonky’ fruit and vegetables has conspired to hugely reduce the nationwide density of the flowering plants that bumblebees feed on..." - Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Can we really blame farmers for having to follow the trend rather than go bankrupt? What if we just changed the trend?
Ease of gardening
Many homeowners now choose aesthetically pleasing, clean and easy over nature-friendly gardens.
Paving, gravel and artificial grass over weeds, wildflowers, ponds and insect-loving trees is unfortunately becoming the norm.
These actions and many more are harming our ecosystem.
Unfortunately rectifying some of the bigger issues seems unlikely, but not all is lost if we all do our little bit.
5 Simple Ways to Help Save the Bees and Protect Our Ecosystem
Garden for nature
Choose natural over easy. You might find the more natural the garden is the prettier it becomes. And if you still choose artificial grass, paving and gravel over natural, then planting bee-friendly flowers in pots around the garden is a great way to attract the bees and provide them with a food source.
For more help, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust has some great gardening advice for bee-friendly gardens big or small.
Provide a bee bath
Have some sort of water feature in your garden or create a bee bath by arranging some stones and rocks in a shallow bowl and filling it just below the stones with clean water. This will give the bees and many other insects water to drink in the hot weather.
Leave the Dandelion alone!
I know they may be ugly, but did you know the Dandelion flower is the bee's first food after winter? Avoid pulling these in early spring, at least leave them until they've finished flowering.
Choose wonky
Don't discriminate, pick up that wonky carrot. It tastes just as good.
Donation
If all this sounds too hard to do, make a regular donation to support the research of these essential insects. Even as little as £1 is help.
If 16 people donated £1 each, that's enough to buy "100g of wildflower seeds to create about 15 m2 of wildlife habitats - about the size of an average living room"
how to support the bees through Lib's Aromatherapy
Our Lip Balm with Rose Geranium & Orange contains some beautiful natural ingredients including beeswax, so we thought it only necessary to save 2% from each sale of Lip Balm and donate it to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. This way we are thanking the bees for the use of their wax and giving back to plant bee-friendly seeds, finance research and educate young children about our ecosystem and the positive impact the bees will have on their future and the future of our planet.